,,theosophy ,,and ,,life',s    ,,deeper 
,,problems            ,copyright        
,registered    ,all ,rights ,reserved   
,permission for translations will be    
given    ,,by    ,,the ,,theosophical   
,,publishing ,,house    ,adyar1 ,madras1
 ,india                                 
,,theosophy ,,and ,,life',s             
,,deeper ,,problems            ,being   
the four ,convention ,lectures delivered
 in ,bombay              at the         
,fortieth ,anniversary of the           
,theosophical                           
,society1 ,december1 #aiae4             
,,by                                    
,,annie ,,besant                        
,president of the ,theosophical ,society
                         ,,theosophical 
,,publishing ,,house                    
,,adyar1 ,,madras1 ,,india              
,t4,p4,s41 ,,london2 ,t4,p4,h41         
,,benares2                              
,,indian ,,book ,,depot1 ,,bombay       
#aiaf          ,,foreword          ,the 
lectures really need no ,foreword4 ,they

 are frankly propagandist1      being   
delivered in the ,city of ,bombay1 on   
the occasion of the return      to that 
city for the first time since the       
,anniversary held in ,framji            
,cowasji ,hall1 on ,december #gth1      
#ahhb1 with #ae delegates present4 ,the 
little seed there planted in ,india by  
our ,founders has grown into a          
mighty tree4 ,may it continue to spread 
ever more widely its branches1      and 
may its leaves be for the healing of the
 ,nations4      ,,annie ,,besant        
,,contents                              
,,page      ,lecture   ,i ,,god         
#a      ,lecture  ,,ii ,,man            
#be      ,lecture ,,iii ,,right ,,and   
,,wrong        #dg      ,lecture  ,,iv  
,,brotherhood            #gc            
,,theosophical ,,convention             
,,lectures          ,,god               
,,friends3    ,amid the excitements of  
the present ,national ,week1 amid all   
the  ,conferences on matters of         
importance to the ,nation1 amid the     

discussions--industrial1 commercial1    
political--which are agitating  this    
great ,city1 and will agitate it during 
the next week1 we1 of the  ,theosophical
 ,society1 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 interests1 the life wherein     
alone  permanence can ever be found4    
,i have chosen for the subject of our   
,convention ,lectures1 those  great     
problems of thought which ever challenge
 the attention of the  highest mind of  
man4 ,that question of questions of the 
nature1 of our  conception1 of ,god2 the
 nature of man1 his relation to the     
,universe  in which he finds            
himself--the evolution of an intelligent
 spiritual  ,being amid the transitory  
phenomena of passing worlds2 then that  
profound question of conduct1 what is   
,right and what is ,wrong8 is  it       
possible to find a standard of ethics8  
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 life8     
,then1 lastly1 the  meaning of          
,brotherhood1 on what it is based1 in   
what it consists1 what  duties it       
imposes upon us1 what is to be our      
attitude to our brethren  on every side4
 ,these questions1 that on these four   
mornings we are to  consider1 are not   
questions of the passing time1 but are  
the problems  that confront humanity at 
all the stages of its evolution4 ,not   
only  is that so1 but in this alone can 
we find peace1 amid the turmoil of  the 
world2 not in the constant struggles of 
outer life may peace be  found1 but in  
the heart of peace which abides in the  
,,eternal1 that can  remain peaceful in 
the midst of storms1 amid friends1 amid 
enemies1  amid neutrals2 only in the    
,peace of the ,,eternal may the human   
,spirit  find abiding rest4 ,when that  
centre is found1 when that knowledge of 
,god which is eternal life has been     

realised by man1 then1 and then  alone1 
can action be wisely taken1 not swayed  
by passion1 not moved by  prejudices1   
having nothing to gain which the outer  
world can give and  nothing to lose     
which that world can take away2 asking  
for nothing1  desiring nothing1 save to 
be an instrument of the ,will that works
 for  ,righteousness1 seeing in the     
world around us the field of action     
where  ,god is working1 and where we can
 be co-workers with ,god4 ,there1 and   
there alone1 can you work above the     
guas1 using them for the ,divine        
purposes1 but not permitting yourself to
 fall under the glamour of  their       
phenomena2 making use of all3 of the    
passions of man1 of the  aspirations of 
man1 of the good and of the evil1       
turning them all  to send man forward on
 the path which ,god has marked out for 
human  progress4 ,that is the high      
activity which finds its expression in  
,service1 and that can only be where    
,god has been realised1 and where  the  

,spirit of man1 consciously one with the
 ,spirit ,eternal1 sees  everywhere one 
,will1 one ,wisdom1 and one ,activity1  
and men1 in all  their different        
workings1 the instruments whereby the   
,divine ,will is  worked out in         
evolution4    ,hence1 our study in these
 four morning hours is not apart from   
the  day's activity1 but is really the  
source1 the spring1 of that activity2   
and so1 loving all because in all the   
,self abides2 seeing the inner  ,self1  
unblinded by outer appearances2 thus may
 work the messengers  of the great      
,hierarchy that guides our world4 ,it is
 to a treading of  the path that leads  
to ,service1 it is for that1 that ,i    
invite your  attention to these profound
 problems of the spiritual life of man4 
,now1 to-day1 we are first to consider  
the nature1 the existence1 of  that ,one
 ,life in which we all subsist1 and the 
views that man has taken  thereof4      
,let me say at the very outset1 that    
there is a common view to-day  among    

many thoughtful1 among many good men1   
that it does not much  matter what a man
 believes providing that his conduct is 
right4 ,that  is a half truth1 not a    
whole truth1 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 orthodox4 ,such a  view has
 not only been found in medival ,europe1
 but also has been  found in ,india     
herself4 ,you will find among ,indians  
to-day1 as still  among some            
,christians1 that the all-important     
matter is belief in  certain dogmas1 and
 that where those are held conduct is   
comparatively  unimportant4 ,we all know
 men in all faiths who are orthodox1 as 
it  is said1 in belief1 but whose lives 
are worldly lives1 and sometimes  not   
even of a very high worldly character4  
,now1 a century or so ago  that view was
 so common that men were persecuted1 men
 were penalised1  because of a          
difference of theological views4 ,if men

 did not believe1  at one stage1 the    
dogmas of the ,roman ,catholic ,church  
in ,europe1 then  their fate was1 at    
first1 the stake1 then later the prison1
 and still  later1 slander1 social      
ostracism1 and disabilities under the   
law of  the land4 ,in ,england1 that is 
now largely swept aside1 and we have the
  opposite exaggeration3 ,let a man     
think as he will2 but let him be a  good
 citizen1 a good man4 ,but that leaves  
out the profound truth that  man is     
created by thought1 and as a man thinks1
 so he is2 conduct  is not independent  
of thought1 for thought is the spring of
 conduct1 and  so it is written in the  
,bhagava-,g1 that a man is compacted1   
composed1 of his beliefs1 and as a man  
believes1 so he is4 ,you have to  make1 
however1 a distinction between beliefs  
conventionally accepted1  and the real  
belief1 which is the conviction of the  
heart1 out of  which action arises4 ,and
 so1 ,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 conduct4 ,the better your
 thought1 the better will be your life4 
,the truer your thought1 the more candid
 and transparent will be your  actions4 
,but remember that it must be your own  
thought1 and not  the thought of your   
neighbour1 not the thought of authority1
 not the  thought of a book1 however    
ancient and however sacred1 not the     
thought  of a great man1 however true   
for him2 the thought that moulds conduct
  is the thought of the actor1 and every
 man is responsible for his own         
thinking2 the repetition of the thought 
of another is useless and even          
mischievous4 ,be not then afraid to     
think1 even about ,god ,himself4 ,do    
not think it is blasphemous to enquire2 
do not think it is blasphemous  to      
doubt4 ,doubt is the stage which comes  
before a larger and truer  thinking4    
,you doubt your past thought1 because   
you are opening up  new vistas of       
thought and the past is lying behind    

you4 ,the man who  never doubts never   
really thinks2 and there is a wholesome1
 a healthy  scepticism which is the     
forerunner of a nobler and a truer      
faith4 ,think  as far as you can4 ,it is
 true that from the very ,highest       
thought and  speech fall back unable to 
go farther2 but as far as you can think1
  as far as your intellect is able to   
grasp1 to investigate1 to argue1  think 
your freest and your noblest1 and you   
will grow by your errors  as well as by 
your truths4 ,do not then fear to think2
 do not fear to  be called unorthodox2  
try your best to think truly and        
accurately1 and  trust in ,truth1 who   
never betrays her servant4 ,the         
determination to  think your highest1   
the determination to think your best1   
may lead you  into some desert for a    
time1 but there are gardens on the other
 side of  the desert4 ,you may have to  
cross many a desert1 many a torrent     
which  seems to sweep you away2 but ,i1 
who ventured all to seek for ,truth1 who

  left family1 friends1 religion1       
because their religion had become to me 
untrue1 ,i bear you witness that such   
unbelief is the way to a higher1 a      
greater1 and a serener faith1 and that  
those who are unwilling to lose  the    
life of the past will not be able to    
advance into the life of the  future4   
,now1 let us1 with regard to our        
thoughts of ,god1 realise that there are
  two lines towards knowledge4 ,the     
first is the way of the intellect1      
which deals with metaphysics1 which     
deals with philosophy1 which  gradually 
lifts a man out of superstition1 out of 
narrowness1 out of  ignorance1 and      
carries him as far as human intellect   
can go4 ,along  those lines exercise    
your intellect1 think your best1 but    
remember1  that it is written that not  
by intellect shall the ,self be found1  
and the path of realisation is not the  
path of the intellect4 ,it is  the path 
of the conquered senses1 of the         
conquered mind1 when in the  quietude of

 the senses and the tranquillity of the 
mind1 the man  beholds the glory of the 
,self4 ,that is realisation3 that is the
 only  knowledge3 that is ,eternal      
,life4 ,by the intellect we reach the   
highest  philosophy1 and let none dare  
to despise philosophy1 which rises up to
  peaks of knowledge1 which are the     
glory of the human race4 ,but1 on the   
other hand1 remember that it is the pure
 in heart who see ,god4 ,it is  the     
conquest of the lower nature which      
enables us to breathe the air in  which 
the higher nature lives2 and not by     
intellectual research1 not  even by     
devotion itself1 but by sinking into the
 depths of your own  being1 by searching
 within1 there where the ,self abides2  
by casting  aside everything that       
changes2 by saying to the senses3 ,you  
are not  ,i2 by saying to the mind3 ,you
 are not ,i2 by saying to the highest   
intelligence3 ,you are not ,i2 in the   
silence1 where the mind has  naught to  
say2 in the silence1 where the senses   

are not heard2 in the  depths of        
yourself1 one with the ,supreme ,self2  
there1 and there only1  shall you       
realise that you yourself are one with  
the ,self ,universal4 ,a  hard path1 a  
difficult path1 the outcome of the      
practice of lives of  self-abnegation   
and of service2 but once you have       
realised ,god1 you  can never doubt     
again4 ,an intellectual argument may be 
overthrown by  keener logic1 by larger  
grasp of facts2 but the man who once has
 seen  the ,face of ,god1 he never again
 can doubt that ,god is1 that ,god is   
,all4  ,that is the ,self-realisation of
 the ,mystic4 ,that is the triumph1 not 
of the intellect but of the ,spirit2    
then the ,spirit which is ,divine       
recognises its kinship with the ,spirit 
,omnipresent1 and when once1 as  ,i have
 said before1 you have found ,god within
 yourself1 then1 and only  then1 will   
you find ,him in every one in           
everything1 around you4 ,that is  the   
triumph of the ,spirit4 ,that is the    

,peace of the ,,eternal4    ,and now1   
let us turn to man's conceptions of     
,god1 and see how they have  changed4   
,and1 in doing this1 friends1 let us    
seek for the kernel of  truth which     
underlies even mistaken beliefs2 for1   
man is so constituted  that no error can
 hold him long in bondage save by the   
truth that  that error conceals4 ,just  
as you may have the husk1 the shell1 and
  the kernel within it1 so in every     
error that dominates mankind there  is a
 kernel of truth that gives it its      
nutritive power4 ,only when you         
recognise the kernel of truth will you  
be able to convince a man of the  husk  
of error4    ,now1 looking back to early
 times in our race1 we find what is     
called  ,polytheism2 and that you       
practically find everywhere4 ,you find  
it very  very strongly in the first half
 of the ,hebrew ,old ,testament1 as is  
called the ,hebrew part of the          
,christian ,bible4 ,if you read that1   
what  is the ,god that you find8        

,clearly1 a ,god of limited power1 a    
,god of  limited knowledge1 what in the 
talk1 the jargon1 of the day is called  
a tribal ,god4 ,in the early story told 
by the ,hebrews1 the conception  of ,god
 is very limited4 ,you find ,him walking
 in the garden in the cool  of the day1 
and calling out to the man he had       
created3 ,adam1 where  art thou8 ,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--saying2 ,go to1   
let us go down1 and there confound their
  language1 that they may not understand
 one another's speech4 ,for now         
nothing1 he said1 will be restrained    
from them1 which they have  imagined to 
do4 ,and so1 we read1 that the ,lord    
came down to see the  city and the      
tower1 which the children of men        
builded1 and he confused  the speech of 
the builders1 so that they were         
scattered abroad and  could not build   
their tower4 ,and the ,babel of ,tongues

 is a phrase in  ,english1 because it   
was the ,tower of ,babel from which all 
the languages  on earth originated6 ,you
 find him again with his chosen people1 
the  children of ,abraham1 leading them 
into the land he gives them2 and  then  
you come across the remarkable statement
 that the ,lord was with  ,judah1 one of
 the tribes1 and he drove out all the   
inhabitants of  the mountain1 but could 
not drive out the inhabitants of the    
valley1  because they had chariots of   
iron4 ,you see at once that you are in  
the realm of a very limited kind of     
tribal ,god4 ,of course1 ,i know that   
in the days when the ,bible was regarded
 as verbally inspired1 as ,god's  ,word1
 they said these statements were an     
accommodation to the ignorance  of man2 
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 fables4 ,you and ,i
 recognise at once that where thoughtful
  ,christians are concerned1 these are  

to them old ideas1 that you have  here  
the local ,god1 the tribal ,god1 and    
that the ,god of the ,hebrews of  the   
early days does not claim to be the only
 ,god1 but only the chief  one1 the     
chief for his own nation3 ,who among the
 ,gods is like unto  ,thee1 ,o ,jehovah6
 ,that is the position of the ,hebrews1 
and they have  their own ,national ,god4
 ,to go away from him is treachery to   
the ,state4  ,to disbelieve in him is   
punishable with death1 because it is    
treason to  the ,nation1 and such       
punishment was not so much regarded as a
 religious  persecution as a ,state     
penalty4 ,as a ,state and social        
sanction1 the  worship of ,yahveh was   
maintained among the ,hebrews2 it was   
the ,state1  the ,national1 ,religion4  
,he conquered the ,gods of the          
,philistines1 ,he  fought with the ,gods
 of all the other people round about1   
each with  their own ,god4    ,then you 
come to a new aspect4 ,the people of    
,israel are scattered2  they are carried

 away captives into ,babylon4 ,they come
 into touch  with the great ,theologies 
of the ,east1 and then a new view of    
,god  is taken by their writers4 ,you   
may draw a line in the ,hebrew ,old     
,testament between the post-,babylon1   
and the pre-,babylon views of ,god4     
,that is done now by every scholar4 ,the
 pre-,babylon view is that of  the      
,tribal ,god1 one among many2 the       
post-,babylon view is the sublime       
conception drawn from a great eastern   
faith1 and then we find poetic  and     
splendid phrases regarding ,god4 ,he is 
the ,high and ,lofty ,one who           
inhabiteth ,eternity1 whose ,name is    
,holy4 ,there you have a spiritual      
thought4 ,you are no longer within the  
region of the tribal ,gods4 ,you  are   
out of the region of the local ,deities2
 you have passed on into  a great and   
spiritual world1 where ,god inhabits    
,eternity1 and where1  in another       
splendid phrase1 it is written3 ,god    
made man in the image  of ,his own      

,eternity4 ,there you have the later    
conception1 there the  ,god ,universal2 
and with that1 one remarkable fact that 
you must never  forget1 that in the     
later writing ,god is recognised not as 
what we call  the ,author of good only1 
but the ,author of evil also4 ,it is    
written in  the ,prophet ,isaiah3 ,i am 
the ,lord1 and there is none else2 ,i   
form the  light and create darkness2 ,i 
make peace1 and create evil4 ,i the     
,lord  do all these things4 ,it is      
written again3 ,shall there be evil in a
  city1 and the ,lord hath not done it8 
,you must realise that where ,god  is   
seen as the ,one1 when there is none    
else1 then ,he is the ,author  of all1  
and not only of the particular line of  
narrow morality that  belongs to the    
evolving human kind4 ,so also in the    
,bhagava-,g  you find the phrase of ,shr
 ,kha3 ,i am the gambling of the  cheat4
 ,i shall come back to that in order to 
point out to you its  meaning1 but at   
the moment ,i only ask you to remember  

that in what is  now called the         
,christian ,bible1 not in the ,hebrew   
part of it only1  but in the ,christian 
part as well1 you find that same        
conception of  one ,light that lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world1   
that  shows itself in every form1 that  
cannot be divorced from anything that   
exists4 ,and so1 in a very splendid     
psalm1 again post-,babylon1 you have    
the psalmist saying3 ,if ,i go up into  
,heaven1 ,thou art there2 if ,i  make my
 bed in ,hell1 behold1 ,thou art there  
also2 if ,i take the wings  of the      
morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
 of the sea1 even there  shall ,thy     
,hand guide me1 and ,thy ,right ,hand   
lead me4 ,heaven or ,hell1  what are    
they8 passing phenomena of human        
evolution4 ,if ,god is found  in        
,heaven1 he is also found in ,hell2 only
 in ,heaven he is the ,bliss  of ,unity 
with the ,law2 in ,hell ,he is the ,pain
 of ,law disregarded1 and  that1 in     
order that by the suffering caused by   

the onward rush of the  disregarded     
,law1 ,he may teach the lesson of       
obedience to the ,law1 the  lesson which
 the man refused to learn by precept1   
and must therefore1  for his own future 
safety1 learn by experience4 ,now that  
idea is  eastern4 ,when the ,christians 
wrote the ,new ,testament1 they narrowed
  this profound idea of ,god4    ,they  
brought also1 those post-,babylon ,jews1
 they brought also the  ,babylonian     
conception of an ,evil ,spirit over     
against the ,good1 the  great idea in   
,zoroastrianism of the opposition       
between ,hormazd and  ,ahriman1 that    
coloured all the ,christian concepts4   
,the ,satan of  ,christianity1 the      
,satan of the ,christians1 is the       
,ahriman of the  ,zoroastrians4 ,and so 
also with the ,eblis of the ,musulmns4  
,he is  the enemy of ,god4 ,there you   
come down1 as it were1 to the planes of 
practice4 ,two forces quarrel for the   
mastery and we call them good and  evil1
 recognising the duality of the flesh   

and the ,spirit4 ,we take  that duality1
 and we put one over against the other4 
,we forget that  the flesh is necessary 
for the unfolding of the ,spirit4 ,we   
forget that  matter is the necessary    
field in which the ,seed of ,divinity   
shall  develop into the manifest ,god1  
and so we lose the ,unity4 ,we live in  
the realm of duality1 and we make       
opposites1 as they are in practical     
life1 of those two sides of ,deity1 the 
,spirit that informs1 the matter  that  
makes action possible4 ,zarathushtra    
has1 behind his duality1 that           
,boundless ,space which is really the   
description of the all-enveloping       
nature of ,god ,universal2 and when we  
deal with ,hinism1 we find  there the   
explanation of those rather fragmentary 
truths that come  down to us along other
 lines4 ,we have finally that terrible  
blunder  of the ,christian1 who makes   
,god1 all love--as in truth ,he         
is--giving  forth from ,himself--for ,he
 is the only creator1 ,one1 there is    

none  else--the ,spirit ,satan1 who is  
the embodiment of hatred2 and you  find1
 finally1 that in the great struggle1   
according to the common  ,christian     
belief--which intellectual ,christians  
are outgrowing1 you  must not           
forget--you find in the final result of 
the struggle1 that it  is not ,god1 but 
,satan that is the conqueror1 for the   
bottomless pit  is full to overflowing1 
while ,heaven is a city with walls      
around it1  and with a comparatively    
limited number of inhabitants4 ,but that
 is not  the deeper teaching of         
,christianity2 it is the crude popular  
view4 ,if  you go through the writings  
of ,s4 ,paul1 what is written there8    
,you find  it is written that the day   
shall come when the ,son1 who is ,god1  
shall  be subject to ,him who put all   
things under ,him1 and ,god shall be all
  in all--,god in ,satan1 ,god in ,hell1
 ,god in the wicked1 evolving them  to  
righteousness4 ,and so in the very      
centre of the ,christian teaching  you  

find that ,god is all and in all1 and is
 it not also written in  ,al ,qurn1     
which largely reflects the popular      
necessary teachings of  the time1 is it 
not written by the great ,prophet of    
,arabia1 that ,all  shall perish1 save  
,his ,face8 ,everywhere is ,god2 ,god is
 everything2 in  everything ,he is the  
ultimate good1 the inevitable fate of   
man4    ,but now what does this         
,polytheism mean8 ,there is a truth in  
it4 ,for  every ,nation has its own eva1
 as we should say2 its own ,angel1 as   
the ,christian and ,musalmn would say4  
,these subordinate hosts1 these  ,angels
 and ,archangels1 these evas and evs1   
they are all superhuman  intelligences1 
working out the will of ,god the        
,supreme4 ,think for a  moment of       
,astronomy4 ,there was a time when this 
little world was the  centre of the     
,solar ,system1 when fixed1 with the    
,waters below and the  ,waters above1   
the ,sun1 the ,moon1 the ,stars also1   
circled around our  ,globe4 ,science    

gradually found out that the universe   
was larger than  the ,solar ,system2    
that the ,universe had many ,suns and   
many systems4  ,it found out that our   
globe went round the ,sun and not the   
,sun round  our globe4 ,the world was   
lifted out of this position of          
superiority  and thrown out into space1 
one among myriads of worlds2 that was   
the  heresy for which ,giordano ,bruno  
died4 ,he proclaimed the multiplicity of
  worlds1 and that the ,sun was the     
centre of our system1 but that there    
were other worlds and other ,suns4 ,in  
the old days that was a frightful       
horror1 for he turned everything upside 
down4 ,what can you do with  ,christian 
teachings if our globe is one among     
many8 ,christ died for  this world4 ,did
 ,god die for a grain of dust in an     
endless ,universe8  ,the whole dignity  
of our world was lost4 ,then they said  
that ,christ  ascended up into ,heaven1 
but ,bruno said that there was no up and
 no  down4 ,our world with space below  

it2 our world with space above it4      
,where then is ,heaven8 ,where is ,hell8
 ,where is ,heaven8 ,where is the       
,throne of ,god8 ,where the right hand  
of ,god where ,christ is sitting8       
,where did ,he go to on that ,ascension 
day8 ,where is ,he to be found  in this 
unlimited space8 ,and so they said3 ,oh6
 burn him1 get rid of  him1 send him to 
find the worlds of which he talks4 ,so  
they burnt him  and scattered his ashes1
 and joyed that he was dead4 ,but ,bruno
 lived  still although the body was     
dead1 and ,science1 ,science triumphed1 
although its votaries were burnt1 were  
racked1 were imprisoned4 ,they  took    
,galileo and forced him to his knees to 
confess that he had  been mistaken2 and 
yet it moves1 were the whispered words  
of the  ,scientist1 who did not dare to 
face the horrors of the ,inquisition4   
,and so ,science triumphed1 and now1    
what do you find8 ,not only that our    
,sun is1 to us1 a stationary body and   
the world goes round it2 but that  ours 

is only one of many systems1 and that   
all those systems and their  ,suns go   
round another ,sun1 and that is not the 
last1 and again that  is not the last2  
for all those masses of systems1 they   
also go round  a still higher ,sun1 and 
so concentric circles of worlds1 of     
systems1  of ,universes1 without end    
that human eye can pierce1 without end  
that  human mind can grasp2 and so we   
begin to realise that the local ,gods   
of the past1 they have their places1 all
 circling round the ,one who is  the    
centre of all life1 the ,one without a  
,second4 ,all ,universes rise  and fall 
in ,him4 ,all ,universes are born and   
die in ,his immensity4 ,no  thought may 
limit ,him4 ,no mind may grasp ,him4 ,he
 is the ,all1 the ,one1  the            
,omnipresent1 and ,his ,life lives in   
the ,angels and ,archangels1 lives  in  
the evas of all the systems1 and in all 
they are ,his ,ministers1  carrying out 
,his ,will4    ,and so there arose what 
is called ,pantheism4 ,god is ,all and  

in all4  ,now there is a great          
difference between the ,pantheism of the
 ,west as  embodied in ,spinoza1 and the
 ,pantheism of the ,east1 that you find 
in  the ,veas1 that you find in the     
,zend-,avesta1 that you find in the old 
dead ,religions of ,egypt1 of ,greece1  
of ,rome4 ,the ,pantheism of the  ,west 
is one ,divine ,existence with certain  
attributes1 the ,spinozean  ,pantheism4 
,it is the ,formless ,boundless         
,existence4 ,not quite the  ,nirgua     
,brahman1 the ,brahman without          
attributes4 ,his ,pantheism is  as cold 
and uninspiring for conduct1 as the     
,nirgua ,brahman would  be if that were 
the last word of ,hinism4 ,infinite1    
,all-embracing1  ,all-in-holding1 out of
 ,space and ,time1 that is the central  
thought of  every great philosophy1     
,musalmn1 ,hin1 ,zoroastrian1 ,i might  
almost  say ,christian--though that is  
more doubtful1 for it is more rigid1    
and narrowed by being confined more or  
less within the conceptions of  the     

,bible4 ,if you go to the great ,musalmn
 ,doctors of the ninth and  tenth       
centuries ,a4 ,d4 you will find         
magnificent descriptions of the         
,all-,god4 ,in ,that is said to exist   
not only what has been1 not only what   
is1 but that which shall he1 and all    
eternally existent1 all that is         
conceivable1 all that is inconceivable1 
all is in ,him4 ,it is the  same as the 
,avaia-,vena--if you take away from that
 the  conception of the ,sagua ,brahman1
 and the devotional side of ,shr        
,shakarchrya in his soras--the ,one     
without a ,second1 embracing  all1      
conceiving all1 all-existing1 one ,now1 
without past1 present1  and future1     
nothing to be excluded4 ,but then comes 
the next step1 the  ,sagua ,brahman1 the
 ,brahman with attributes1 that is not a
 second1  but the ,one in manifestation4
 ,he manifests a part of ,himself4 ,said
  ,shr ,kha3 ,i established this        
,universe with a portion of myself1  and
 ,i remain2 all-transcending1           

all-embracing1 the manifested ,god1     
limiting ,himself by manifestation4 ,and
 so ,manu speaks of ,him as a  mountain 
of light1 the generating ,light2 the    
,one with attributes1  but the          
attributes belong to the manifestation4 
,they might vary  perchance in another  
age1 in another ,universe4 ,then there  
go forth  from ,him the three great     
manifestations1 ,will1 or ,power2       
,wisdom1  or ,self-,realisation2        
,activity1 or ,creative ,intelligence1  
and that  threefold manifestation1 of   
,power1 of ,self-,realisation1 of       
,creative  ,intelligence1 that is the   
root of every ,trinity1 as it is called1
  that you find in the ancient and in   
the modern worlds4 ,three forms  of     
,manifestation inherent in one          
,existence1 the creative ,power1  that  
brings a ,universe into existence1      
called ,brahm among ,hins2  the         
sustaining all-preserving ,power1 that  
maintains a ,universe1  all-permeating1 
all-preserving1 that is called ,vihu2   

and ,he into  whom all re-enters1 the   
,destroyer1 the ,regenerator1 ,he into  
whom all  returns that a higher form may
 reappear1 that is ,maheva1 ,shiva1 the 
,supreme ,bliss4    ,naturally among a  
people unmetaphysical and               
unphilosophical1 you get  a division    
which in truth does not exist4 ,they see
 three different  ,deities and quarrel  
over them1 where there is only ,one1    
showing  ,himself in the three essential
 forms for a ,universe which comes1     
which  lives1 which passes2 and hence   
you have the ,shaiva and the ,vaihava   
fighting the one against the other4 ,i  
saw the other day in the caves of       
,elephanta1 the ,arha ,shiva ,arha      
,vihu1 the ,hari-,hara1 which is  said  
in the legends to be the combination of 
the twain in one4 ,a  fanatic was       
worshipping one and depreciating the    
other1 it is said1 and  the image of    
,vihu changed1 and became half ,maheva  
and half  ,vihu1 and the double image   
smiled upon the worshipper1 to remind   

him  that the division was in man and   
not in ,god4    ,so also there are hosts
 of evas1 for the eastern ,pantheism    
includes  the innumerable forms in which
 ,god-in-all expresses ,himself1 and so 
we  have ,polytheism in a higher form4  
,you need not be afraid of words1 for   
that is the all-embracing truth4        
,polytheism asserts the existence of    
the evas and evs1 who carry out the     
,will of the ,supreme4 ,not for  the    
sake of the eva is the eva dear1 but for
 the sake of the ,self  is the eva dear4
 ,only as the manifestation of the ,self
 is the eva  seen1 as you1 in your turn1
 are manifestations of the same ,self4  
,but  the eva is a more highly evolved  
manifestation than you are4 ,these      
innumerable ministers of the ,supreme   
,will1 they also are manifestations  of 
the ,one2 they mar not the ,unity4 ,and 
so in the ,veas you chant to  all of    
them2 and so in the ,zend-,avesta you   
invoke them all4    ,now the ,western   
will tell you that all these evas of    

yours are the  personifications of the  
elements2 that ,agni is not a being1 but
 is the  ,fire personified4 ,you must   
turn that right upside down1 if you want
 to  make it true4 ,agni is not a       
personification of the element ,fire2   
but  ,fire1 the element1 is the material
 expression of ,agni1 his body1 his     
vehicle1 by which he shows himself in   
the world4 ,and that is your key4       
,ignorance personifies an ,element4     
,knowledge sees a ,being whose material 
expression is an ,element4 ,ignorance   
sees the physical4 ,knowledge sees  in  
everything physical a manifestation of  
the ,one ,self1 showing ,himself  in a  
limited form for the helping of ,his    
world4 ,and so the higher  ,occultist   
may address ,agni1 the evarja of ,fire1 
and1 below ,agni1  countless hosts of   
those who are called ,fire evas1 or     
,fire ,elementals1  all expressions of  
his nature1 all using a special type of 
matter in  the world4 ,hence you hear   
that when the world was built1 the      

elements  came forth1 and each had the  
,life-principle within it4 ,fire came   
forth1  but ,agni1 the evarja1 was the  
,life-principle within the fire-matter1 
and so with ,varua for water1 and so    
with ,kubera for earth4 ,you have       
within every ,element1 nay1 within      
everything that you call a law in       
nature1 you have a ,life-principle1 a   
eva1 or ,angel1 call him what you  will1
 names matter not1 provided that you    
realise that the ,self which  works in  
you as man1 works in all these ,beings  
in ascending ranks of  hierarchical     
power2 but they all are expressions of  
the one ,divine  ,will1 and the ,one    
works in all of them1 and the wise see  
the ,one1  although they call ,him by   
many names4    ,now there you have the  
whole truth3 ,god is everything and in  
,all4  ,god is manifested in countless  
forms1 in countless grades of living    
intelligences1 and each has its own     
place1 and the evas come forth  from    
,brahm1 as later from ,him come forth   

vegetables and animals  and men4 ,there 
is only the ,one ,life1 but it is       
manifest in infinite                    
forms--,pantheism-cum-,polytheism1      
,god-in-a-,universe4 ,now1 if you       
realise that1 if you understand that1   
all these many evas and evs1  these many
 ,angels and ,archangels1 are only      
expressions1 phenomena1  manifestations1
 of the ,one1 just as you are4 ,then1   
you will realise  that all these1       
carrying out the ,divine ,will1 are the 
hearers of  prayer1 are the guardians of
 mankind2 some are guardians of         
,nations1  others the guardians of      
special areas smaller than ,nations1 but
  all are agents of the ,one4 ,when the 
peasant prays to the form that  he      
worships1 and asks for help1 that is    
really a prayer to the ,one  ,supreme1  
which is answered by ,his minister1 the 
eva who is addressed  by the peasant2   
and if you talk to the peasant here in  
,india1 you will  find that most1 if not
 all1 of them realise the ,one behind   

the many1  and know1 that the ,one alone
 is ,god1 although they appeal to those 
who are nearer in evolution to          
themselves1 as they ask a ,collector    
rather than the ,king4 ,and so we begin 
to realise that ,polytheism has  its    
truth1 and only needs to be understood4 
,then all ,nature becomes  living1      
beautiful1 sympathetic1 ,god smiles in  
everything4 ,the thinker  should realise
 it1 and then none will ever blur the   
,unity by the  multiplicity of          
manifestations4 ,thus you come to the   
whole truth1 and  find it living1       
exquisite1 a perpetual joy4 ,all ,nature
 lives and loves4  ,there is but ,one   
,life1 but ,one ,existence1 but one     
,supreme ,omnipresent  ,being4 ,we      
cannot call him ,spirit1 because ,spirit
 is the antithesis of  ,matter1 and     
,spirit and ,matter blend in ,him4 ,so  
we call ,him the ,,one  ,,without ,a    
,,second4 ,in the boundless realms of   
space1 in the infinity of  ,universes1  
that ,,one is expressing ,himself in    

countless ways1 but all is  a           
manifestation of ,himself4 ,he the ,one 
,thinker2 from ,him1 all thought  comes 
forth4 ,he1 the one ,actor2 from ,him   
all activities proceed4 ,all  our human 
words of right and wrong1 of good and   
evil1 those are limited  to the evolving
 lives in relation to each other4 ,there
 is nothing that  can be excluded from  
the ,one and ,universal4 ,in ,him1 all  
is well1 all  is highest and best4 ,and1
 when we come to deal with ,right and   
,wrong1  we shall see how this works    
out1 how it gives us a human standard1  
a standard by which we may guide our    
steps4 ,but1 for this morning1  ,i will 
leave with you that ,supreme ,ideal3    
that there is but the ,one  in ,all1 in 
,everything2 the lowest dust beneath    
your feet has the ,one  within it2 the  
highest eva in the highest heaven is but
 another  expression of the ,one4 ,you  
express ,him1 the animal expresses ,him1
 the  vegetable expresses ,him1 the     
mineral expresses ,him4 ,how else shall 

they live1 save in ,him who is life8    
,how else shall they evolve1 save  in   
,him who is manifesting ,himself through
 them8 ,be not afraid to love  the      
world1 which is one of ,his             
manifestations1 one of ,his thoughts2   
but  see ,him everywhere and in         
everything1 and so shall everything     
become  spiritualised4 ,let ,him speak  
to you through the world1 as ,he speaks 
to  you through the ,spirit4 ,he speaks 
in every breath of air2 ,he speaks in   
every leaf on the forest tree2 ,he      
speaks in the foam and crash of the     
,ocean's breaking billows2 ,he speaks in
 the solitude and silence of the        
,mountain4 ,there is none other4 ,there 
is nothing else4 ,he is the ,one        
,existence4 ,and as you realise that1   
you share ,his power1 and you share     
,his peace4          ,,man              
,,friends3    ,i will ask you to        
remember the point at which we had      
arrived when  the first lecture was     
concluded4 ,we had studied the nature1  

the  existence of ,god1 and we had come 
to the point where we realised one      
all-pervading ,life1 the ,one without a 
,second1 the ,one ,life permeating      
every form from the lowest mineral to   
the highest eva1 nay--the ,lord  of the 
,universe1 shvara ,himself4 ,he also is 
an embodiment of the  ,supreme ,self1   
showing forth infinite ,power1 ,wisdom  
and ,activity1 the  attributes of the   
,self1 showing them forth in supreme    
measure4 ,but  even in shvara ,himself1 
the ,lord of the ,universe1 we recognise
 that  ,he is an embodiment1 and that1  
as is written in the ,bhgavaa1 there    
are many shvaras1 many ,shivas1 ,vihus1 
,brahms1 each triplet the  centre of a  
,universe1 each the shvara of a ,kosmos4
 ,realising that1  then1 as our         
foundation1 and that everything in a    
,universe1 in its  measure1 is animated 
by the ,one ,life1 inspired by the ,one 
,energy1 moved  by the ,one ,will1 we   
then descend from those great heights to
 study  one phase of the embodiments1   

that which we know as ,,man4 ,realise   
that  ,man is only one grade in this    
mighty hierarchy of existences1 that1   
beginning with the mineral1 passing     
onwards through the vegetable1 then     
ascending through the animal1 culminates
 in ,man1 more and more of the  ,supreme
 ,life shown out stage by stage4 ,you   
may remember how the great  commentator 
,syaa pointed out that the ,supreme     
,self in the mineral  shows out only the
 quality of existence4 ,passing onwards 
to vegetable  and animal1 ,he shows out 
there the attribute of consciousness4   
,passing onwards to ,man1 ,he reveals   
,himself in fuller measure--,man1  who  
remembers what is past1 who forecasts   
that which is yet to come4  ,while man  
heads these ascending grades in our     
normal world1 we  yet pass onward in    
thought to the great hierarchies of     
,super-,men1  of evas--,angels1 call    
them what you will--then still onwards  
and  onwards1 ever in ascending grades  
of ,power1 of ,wisdom and of ,activity1 

until we reach those mighty ,spirits who
 stand1 as it were1 around  shvara      
,himself1 ,his ,viceroys in the mighty  
,empire of our system1 all  subordinates
 and ministers1 who carry out the will  
of the ,supreme ,lord4    ,now in this  
great ,ladder of ,life1 ,man occupies   
what we may call a  middle place4 ,the  
characteristic of ,man is that in him   
there is a  warfare of ,spirit and of   
,matter1 striving for the mastery4 ,in  
the  mineral1 in the vegetable1 in the  
animal1 there you find ,matter is       
supreme2 ,spirit is most deeply veiled  
in the mineral1 rather less  veiled in  
the vegetable1 still less in the animal4
 ,when we come to ,man1  in his lowest  
condition we find that ,matter is still 
triumphant2 then  a struggle begins1 and
 at last ,spirit shows himself          
triumphant4 ,matter  is spiritualised by
 the indwelling ,life1 and instead of   
being a fetter  and a clog it becomes a 
vehicle1 an expression of the           
indwelling1 the  directing1 ,spirit4    

,the interest then of ,man is that in   
all the stages  of his long evolution   
the struggle is going on4 ,first we see 
,matter  is supreme4 ,gradually as ,mind
 develops1 the lowest manifestation of  
the ,spirit1 the struggle becomes       
marked2 then slowly and gradually       
evolving1 ever further and further1 in  
the ,saints1 in the ,sages of our  race1
 we find the triumph of the human over  
the animal1 the triumph of  the ,spirit 
over ,matter2 it is that mighty         
evolution that is the subject  of our   
study this morning4           99        
99       99       99       99    ,where 
shall we begin8 ,we must necessarily    
begin in the bosom of shvara  ,himself1 
whence come forth the human ,spirits1   
the ,jvms4 ,for is  it not written that 
as millions of sparks go forth from the 
flaming  fire1 so do the ,jvms go forth 
from shvara ,himself2 or again1 do  we  
not find it said by ,shr ,kha1 speaking 
as the ,supreme  shvara3 ,a portion of  
,myself--,mammsha--a fragment of        

,myself1 going  forth into the world of 
,matter1 draws round itself the senses1 
and  mind as the sixth4 ,there you have 
the definition of ,man4 ,a portion  of  
shvara ,himself1 a fragment of that     
illimitable ,life1 thrown down  into the
 world of ,matter1 which incases the    
fragment within itself1  which that     
fragment is destined to turn into a     
vehicle for the unfolded  powers of     
,god4 ,as a seed is cast into the ground
 and within that seed  lie hidden every 
power1 every beauty1 every possibility  
of the tree  that sent it forth1 so from
 the eternal ,tree of ,life of ,god     
,himself  the seed is cast into the soil
 of our world1 impotent1 helpless1      
nescient--knowing nothing at first4     
,but1 inasmuch as it is a seed of  ,god1
 it is destined to unfold ,divine       
,powers1 and to become in the  course of
 ages the image of ,that from whom it   
has come forth4 ,and  so we find it     
written in the ,bha rayaka1 showing the 
contrast  between the ,supreme m1 the   

,paramm1 and the ,jivm1  the human      
,spirit3 ,all-powerful the one1 but     
powerless the other4  ,in the one1 all  
power manifests2 in the other1 every    
potentiality is  present4 ,and so1 you  
find also in the later religion of      
,christianity1  that it is declared by  
the mouth of the ,christ ,himself3 ,be  
ye  therefore perfect1 as your ,father  
which in ,heaven is perfect4 ,i  ask all
 of you to realise what lies in those   
words of the ,christ2  as ,god in       
,heaven is perfect1 such is the destiny 
of the children of  men2 not always to  
be weak and frivolous1 not always to be 
childish  and impotent1 but to become1  
in the course of ages1 perfect as ,god  
,himself is perfect4 ,that1 and nothing 
less than that1 is the destiny of  every
 one of you4 ,you may delay it2 you may 
retard it2 you may wander  in many      
bye-ways and lose ages of time2 but what
 is time1 however long1  to you who are 
eternal1 for whom there is no limit of  
space or time1  inasmuch as your essence

 is the essence of ,god ,himself4       
,nothing less  than that1 your ,future4 
,but now1 let us look at this ,seed of  
,divinity and ask3 ,how it is to        
develop1 how it is to grow into         
splendour so illimitable8 ,for though   
you be sons of a ,king1 though your     
heritage be sure in the future1  you may
 yet1 if you will1 grovel in the mire2  
you may1 if you will1  forget your      
birthright2 you may think yourselves    
children of the  dust1 while you are    
children of shvara2 but you must at last
 come  to your inheritance1 for the     
,divine ,will in you cannot be          
ultimately  frustrated1 and your        
destiny1 your ,divine destiny1 must be  
worked out4    ,now1 we have a fragment 
of ,divinity embodied in flesh4 ,under  
what  conditions1 by what laws1 is that 
fragment to evolve1 to unfold its       
powers8 ,there are two great laws under 
which that ,seed of ,divinity  must     
develop into manifested ,god4 ,the one1 
the ,law of ,reincarnation2  the turning

 of the wheel of births and deaths to   
which every one  of us is bound2 where  
freedom can only come to us by realising
 our  ,divinity2 whence we may not      
escape until the law is utterly         
fulfilled4  ,and the second1 the ,law of
 ,karma1 that law of the ,divine ,nature
 in  which everything exists related1   
bound together1 by simultaneous         
co-existence2 hence1 when out of that   
,eternity any portion of the  ,divine   
comes into space and into time1 you have
 causation1 where  before there was     
simultaneity4 ,you have what you call   
causation1  which is only the coming    
into appearance and recognition of the  
real  simultaneity of all4 ,in ,god all 
is2 in man all becomes2 but that is the 
only difference2 and what you call      
causation is nothing more than the      
unfolding in time1 which is succession1 
of that which ever exists out  of time  
in the ,supreme4 ,let us then see how   
the law works1 and it works  through    
many stages1 it works through endless   

ages4 ,we have our ,divine  ,seed--a    
child-,spirit1 let us call him--born    
into our world4 ,he is not  left there  
alone1 to find out by long experience   
only how evolution  must proceed2 for1  
out of previous ,universes1 out of past 
evolutions  in other worlds1 there come 
to the helping of these infant children 
of  ,man1 ,those who have passed through
 the earlier stages1 and have become    
superhuman in ,their knowledge and      
,their power4 ,there are two ways of    
finding out the existence of a law4     
,one1 the way in which1 surrounded  by  
the laws of nature that we may not      
change nor violate1 unknowing  that they
 exist1 unconscious that they are around
 us1 we are like a man  in a darkened   
chamber1 where there is no light to see 
his environment1  who knocks himself up 
against one thing or another and bruises
 himself  in the knocking4 ,by the      
bruising1 he finds out the obstacles2 by
 the  pain that he suffers1 he finds    
that he can only move without pain in a 

certain direction4 ,that is the         
scientific way4 ,every law of nature    
that  has been so far discovered by     
,science has been discovered by         
experience  which has turned ignorance  
into knowledge4 ,take ,roger ,bacon1 one
 of  the early chemists in the days when
 to investigate was heresy1 in the  days
 when to understand was crime4 ,he was a
 monk1 but a monk with the  soul of a   
scientist in him4 ,he experimented with 
chemical substances4  ,he knew nothing  
about them4 ,he did not know that       
putting these two  together made a new  
and useful substance2 that putting      
another two  together made an explosive 
substance1 that scattered everything    
around4  ,he put together whatever he   
could find4 ,what was the result8 ,one  
time  he was stretched senseless on the 
floor of his cell2 another time  a      
finger was blown off2 another time an   
eye was blown out2 onward  and onward he
 went1 with that dauntless courage1 that
 interminable  patience1 which make the 

truly scientific man1 who looks on      
knowledge  as the supreme good4 ,struck 
senseless he came to again1 and began   
again  his work3 missing a finger1 he   
used the rest for new experimentation3  
when one eye had gone1 the other        
remained with which he could still  see4
 ,and1 by such pain1 by such loss1 such 
infinity of dangers1 ,science  slowly   
won its way to its knowledge of the laws
 around it4 ,inviolably1  unchangeably1 
,god manifests in ,nature4    ,the      
result of the long experimenting is that
 now1 when the young man  goes into the 
laboratory1 textbooks are ready for him4
 ,a professor  is there to warn him     
where the dangers of investigation lie4 
,do  not put1 he will say to him1       
nitrogen and chlorine together2 if  you 
put them together without certain       
precautions1 you will find  yourself in 
fragments and your laboratory will be   
destroyed4 ,the  boy in the laboratory  
now does not experience the dangers of  
earlier  investigators4 ,that1 for him1 

is done4 ,men have come to show him the 
way1 and the experience of the ,past is 
the guide to the knowledge of  the      
,present1 and the warning to the dangers
 of the ,future4 ,so with  ,man4 ,there 
were ,professors1 there were ,teachers1 
round the infant  races of our ,globe4  
,we call them his2 we call them ,saints2
 we call  them ,god-illuminated men2 we 
call them ,sages2 ,founders of          
,religions2  and ,they said to infant   
humanity1 as the ,professor says to the 
boy in  the laboratory3 ,do that1 don't 
do the other4 ,here lies safety2 there  
lies danger4 ,take our experience as a  
guide1 and you will realise  the        
existence of the law2 your happiness    
lies in your obedience1 in  your        
conformity with law4 ,hence1 infant     
humanity started with the  advantages of
 ,sages to guide it who proclaimed the  
law4    ,now1 for a moment1 put         
yourselves by imagination in the        
position of one  of those infant races1 
hearing the words of the ,teacher1 and  

willing  to learn4 ,if1 said the        
,teacher1 you follow that course of     
conduct1  misery will result4 ,you may  
remember the words of the ,lord ,buha1  
that as the wheels of a cart follow on  
the heels of the ox1 so misery  follows 
on the commission of evil4 ,as the      
wheels of the cart follow the  heels of 
the ox1 so happiness follows on the     
commission of right4 ,and  why8 because1
 as we shall see to-morrow1 right is    
harmony with law1 and  wrong is discord 
with it4 ,and1 as the law cannot be     
broken1 as the law  itself is           
inviolable1 the man who dashes himself  
against it is like the  ship that dashes
 against a rock2 the rock remains       
unmoving1 but the  ship is shattered    
into pieces4 ,so is it with the law1 the
 expression of  the ,divine ,nature4    
,now the recognition of law was helped  
by those declarations of the  ,teachers4
 ,for when a man1 disobedient and       
careless1 committed a wrong  act1 he    
suffered2 and then he said3 ,i was told 

that ,i should suffer2  after all1 the  
,teacher was right2 ,i have made myself 
miserable by  disobeying the law4 ,and  
the earlier lessons of man ran along    
these  lines4    ,let us see how it     
worked out4 ,a savage4 ,his passions are
 his guides4  ,he knows none other4 ,he 
wants and takes2 he desires and grasps2 
but  he is living among others who also 
want and take1 who also desire  and     
grasp1 and1 there is a conflict between 
the desires of one man  and another4 ,we
 will follow one man3 ,he sees his      
neighbour's wife2  desires her2 he takes
 her2 perhaps1 kills the husband--he is 
quite a  savage1 remember4 ,he sees in  
his neighbour's tent food that he wants2
  he strikes the man down1 and takes    
away the food4 ,and he thinks3 ,i  have 
done well2 ,i am happy2 ,i have gained a
 beautiful woman2 ,i have  gained food2 
,i am no longer hungry4 ,this is the    
path of happiness for  me4 ,but he has  
made enemies4 ,the friends of those whom
 he may have  struck down in his        

licentiousness1 they are his enemies1   
and presently  he has to die1 perhaps is
 killed in revenge4 ,but1 what we call  
,death  is only the striking away of the
 body in which the ,spirit eternal is   
dwelling1 and this ignorant creature1   
when the body is struck away1  finds    
himself in the midst of people whom he  
robbed and murdered during  his life on 
earth4 ,he is surrounded by enemies2 he 
finds on the other  side antagonism and 
hatred2 and he learns in the other      
world--the  world we call ,prealoka or  
,kmaloka--he learns there that to do    
these  things means sorrow1 and that    
pain is the ultimate result of the      
desire  unjustly satisfied4 ,it makes a 
little impression upon him4 ,but during 
his life1 he has not only robbed and    
murdered3 he has loved2 perhaps  he has 
loved the woman he stole2 perhaps he has
 loved the child that  was born of her4 
,those little seeds of love remain4 ,the
 ,spirit carries  them with him as he   
passes out of the body1 and when he has 

suffered  in ,prealoka the result of the
 evil he has done1 he passes on to      
,piloka and to ,svarga1 to enjoy the    
good that he has accomplished2 and  the 
seed of love1 selfish probably1 desiring
 gratification1 finds in  ,piloka       
satisfaction1 and the power to love     
increases4 ,and where there  has been a 
seed of unselfish love1 perhaps where   
the wife was ill1  and the husband sat  
up at night1 tending and nursing her    
although she  was no longer a source of 
pleasure1 but only a source of trouble  
and  annoyance2 that unselfishness grows
 out of love1 even the animal love1  or 
lust of the possessor1 that remains as a
 little bit of unselfish  seed to bear  
flower in ,svarga4 ,when he reaches     
,svarga1 and finds there  again the wife
 and the child he loved1 then that      
little seed of love  begins to grow1 and
 grows through the life1 the heavenly   
life1 of  happiness that he leads1 and  
that is transmuted into a greater power 
of loving1 which he brings back with him

 to his next birth1 so that he  finds   
himself on a higher plane of emotion    
than that he lived on in the  last4     
,now in the savage the growth is very   
slow4 ,hundreds of lives sometimes  pass
 and little change is seen4 ,but where  
the ,sages ,i spoke of are  present1    
there the growth is more rapid1 for     
there comes in the  recognition of the  
law1 and the understanding of the       
sequence of  events4 ,the man comes back
 again for many births1 until he comes  
back  as an average common-place        
semi-civilised man4 ,as a savage1 he has
  hardly any power of thought2 through  
the lives that pass the power of        
thought has grown4 ,and now1 you come to
 a man who1 in a comparatively          
civilised country1 is born as an        
ordinary mediocre man--the man in  the  
street1 we often call him4 ,now his     
experience is more varied4 ,he  has many
 loves and hates1 many unjust desires1  
but also some higher  aspirations2 and  
as he goes through a life1 the result of

 his own  past1 he gathers together     
fresh experiences1 whereof presently    
more  faculty will be manufactured4     
,just as a sea-gull1 sweeping through   
the air1 sweeps down into the ocean1    
catches a fish1 comes up again  and     
flies away to feed upon the fish1 so    
does the human being1 out  of the great 
expanse of life in the higher world1    
sweep down into  physical existence to  
gain the food of experience there4 ,he  
carries  it away through the gateway of 
death1 and feeds upon it in the worlds  
on the other side of death4 ,again1 more
 fully and more subtly than  in the     
early stages of life1 he reaps the      
result of the evil that he  has done2   
but his mind is now larger1 his mind is 
more intelligent1  he traces the evil   
act bringing about the suffering1 and   
that is  imprinted on the tablet of the 
mind4 ,then he goes on into ,svarga1 and
  there turns over the good experience  
he has gained4 ,the experience in       
love-emotion1 that turns into higher    

powers of loving1 greater desire  to    
serve1 greater recognition of the claims
 of others upon him1 until  he has      
formed a better and higher love-emotion1
 ready to return with  him to his next  
experience of life4 ,but he has also    
gathered much  thought2 he has gained   
experience in knowledge2 he has exerted 
mental  faculties4 ,he gathers up all   
the mental experiences and these he     
works  up into intellectual faculties4  
,is it not written that man is created  
by thought1 and what a man thinks upon  
that he becomes8 ,the life of  ,svarga  
is a life of changing experience into   
faculty4 ,every experience  that you are
 making now1 intellectual experience1   
you will weave into  mental power on the
 other side of death4 ,whatever you may 
have gained1  whatever knowledge you    
have acquired1 that you carry with you  
through  the gateway of death1 and you  
work it up into mental power during your
  life in ,svarga4 ,you may have been   
weak in some faculty1 in judgment1  we  

will say1 and you made many errors in   
judgment here3 you suffer for  them on  
the other side of death4 ,you remember  
them in ,svarga1 and you  build up that 
experience into an increased power of   
judgment1 and you  bring that back with 
you as an innate quality1 and it shows  
itself in  your childhood as part of    
your intellectual equipment4 ,and1 so   
with  every faculty1 with reason1 with  
memory1 with logic1 with the power  of  
understanding2 not one of your efforts  
here is wasted2 they all  come back to  
you as food-experience in your heavenly 
life4 ,you brood  over them1 you change 
them into faculty1 and that faculty is  
yours for  evermore4 ,for that passes on
 into the intellectual side of the      
,spirit1  as the emotions pass on into  
the moral1 which is the wisdom side2    
and so1 you come back to earth with     
higher intellectual power1 with  greater
 moral faculty4 ,that continues1 on and 
on1 life after life1 and  when you are  
born into the world with high ability1  

it only means the  many lives you have  
studied1 the many lives you have        
laboured in1 the  many after-death      
periods during which you have           
assimilated4    ,see how the process    
resembles your life here1 which is1     
indeed1 its  reflection on the physical 
plane4 ,you take food2 you are          
satisfied4  ,that food passes down1 and 
is digested4 ,the nutritive part of that
 is  assimilated1 and your brain1 your  
muscles1 your nerves1 all grow by the   
assimilated nourishment2 and when it is 
assimilated you begin to feel  hungry   
again4 ,you have used up what you took1 
and you are hungry for  more food1 in   
order that you may grow again2 and then1
 you have again  another meal1 and the  
whole process is repeated4    ,so in    
your spiritual life also4 ,you take the 
food of experience2 you  digest it2 you 
assimilate the nutritive part of it1 and
 by that you  unfold the hidden powers  
of the ,spirit1 and1 when you have      
assimilated  all1 when nothing remains  

to be transmuted1 then in the heavenly  
world  you are hungry for more          
experience1 and your hunger brings you  
back to  birth in the world in which    
that hunger can be satisfied4 ,that is  
the  ,law4 ,that is the ,law of         
,reincarnation4    ,as you grow more and
 more in stature1 your growth becomes   
more rapid4  ,and at last1 a time comes1
 when you say3 ,i have had enough of    
this2  ,i no longer care for power--it  
ends in disappointment2 ,i no longer    
care for wealth--it is a burden rather  
than a joy2 ,i no longer care  for the  
things that break in the enjoyment2 ,i  
no longer care for the  things that     
perish in the using4 ,and then there    
sets in the discontent  with the        
transitory goods of this world2 there   
sets in that which is  called           
,vairgya--dispassion4 ,the objects no   
longer attract2 and then  the man that  
has this ,divine discontent within him  
begins to seek for  the permanent1      
begins to look for that which will      

satisfy2 and there  is nothing that can 
satisfy the ,divine ,spirit in man save 
,god ,himself1  the ,illimitable ,life  
and ,love4 ,and so1 as an ,english poet 
wrote--an  old-fashioned poet3          
,when ,god at first made man1           
,having a glass of blessings standing   
by1        ,let me1 ,he said1 pour on   
him all ,i can2        ,let the world's 
riches which extended lie               
,contract into a span4 ,then strength   
first made its way1        ,then beauty 
followed1 wealth and power and pleasure4
        ,at last1 when all was gone1    
,god made a stay4        ,perceiving    
that at last of all his treasure        
,rest in the bottom lay4        ,for if 
,i should1 said ,he1        ,bestow this
 jewel also on my creature1        ,he  
would adore my gifts instead of me1     
,and rest in ,nature1 not the ,god of   
,nature1        ,so both should losers  
be4 ,then let him keep the rest1        
,but keep them in repining restlessness4
        ,let him be rich and weary1 that

 at last1        ,if goodness move him  
not1 yet restlessness        ,shall toss
 him to my breast4    ,now that is the  
truth4 ,there is nothing in all this    
world that does not  break in your      
hands1 when you have it4 ,god is like a 
mother1 and ,he  dangles in front of    
,his children all the joys1 the         
glittering baubles1  that earth can     
give4 ,and1 in front of one ,he dangles 
wealth1 saying3  ,come1 my child1 and   
grasp the wealth4 ,and the child1 in    
trying to  grasp1 puts out his power1   
and his strength develops1 and his will 
develops1 and in the struggle to be rich
 many of the faculties of the  man and  
the power of will are developed1 and    
when that has been done1  and the child 
grasps the bauble--it breaks4 ,for the  
value was in the  struggle and not in   
the possession1 for the ,divine ,spirit 
in man4  ,the ,divine ,spirit in man can
 never be satisfied with gold or wealth4
  ,if a mother took up her child and    
carried it always1 as some foolish  men 

would have ,god carry us1 then when the 
child ought to be walking1              
strengthening its legs1 tumbling down   
and picking itself up again1 it  would  
have been carried in its mother's arms1 
until when it was #f or #g  or #h1 it   
would be paralysed1 and would never grow
 into a man at all4  ,and so it is with 
,god's child1 ,man4 ,struggle1 ,he says4
 ,see all the  beautiful things ,i have 
here for you4 ,for ,god is in all the   
objects  of sense4 ,god is in everything
 that attracts2 there is no attraction  
save in ,god1 the only fair4 ,and so1   
,he hides ,himself in gold1 and ,he     
hides ,himself in pleasure1 and ,he     
hides ,himself in ,power2 and ,he  hides
 ,himself in fame2 and when the child   
has exerted himself and  gained the     
desirable object1 ,god slips out of it  
and the attraction  vanishes1 and so we 
grow and learn4 ,it is the only way4 ,we
 grow strong1  intellectually strong1   
morally strong1 until nothing has power 
to  attract save the one supreme        

attraction1 ,god ,himself4    ,and so it
 is written1 that when a man becomes    
weary he begins to  abstain from the    
objects of the senses4 ,and then come   
the strange  words3 ,the objects of the 
senses turn away from the abstemious    
dweller  in the body4 ,why8 because ,god
 is in them1 and when they no longer    
attract they have done their work1 and  
they turn away to educate some  less    
developed man2 and then1 it is written1 
that the taste for them  still remains1 
but even the taste for them vanishes    
away when once  the ,supreme is seen4   
,there lies the truth4 ,you feel        
distaste for the  lower only when you   
have seen the higher4 ,when you have    
seen the  ,supreme ,beauty1 the         
fragments of that ,beauty down here can 
no longer  mislead2 you see ,god in     
them1 and keep a grateful memory of all 
that  they have taught you1 in that they
 have led to the realisation of the     
,god hidden in them1 the treasure which 
remains4 ,when you have gained  the     

knowledge1 the realisation of ,god1 what
 has earth left1 that earth  can give8  
,he is all power2 ,he is all might2 ,he 
is all beauty2 ,he is  all love2 and you
 learn to know that nothing that has    
attracted you  can perish in its        
permanent reality4 ,although the form   
may break1 and  change into another1 it 
only increases your treasure in the     
riches  of the ,supreme4 ,you love a    
woman2 it is well2 for love is the great
  purifier and the great uplifter of    
human hearts2 but remember that her     
loveliness is but a fragment of the     
,divine ,loveliness1 and that all  that 
attracts in her is the beauty of the    
,self shining forth through  the beauty 
of the form4        ,not for the sake of
 the wife is the wife dear1 but for the 
sake of      the ,self the wife is dear2
 not for the sake of the husband is the 
husband dear1 but for the sake of the   
,self the husband is dear2 not      for 
the sake of the son is the son dear1 but
 for the sake of the      ,self the son 

is dear4    ,but the wife and the       
husband and the son are rightly dear1   
because  there is dwelling in them the  
glory of the ,self1 and that remains for
  ever1 with all that has made it       
beautiful to you on earth2 for ,god is  
,love1 and love can never die2 and all  
the loving and beloved ,jvms1  that have
 been embodied in many forms1 remain as 
your companions  through the everlasting
 ages of the ,future4    ,now when a man
 has learnt ,vairgya1 then comes the    
great period of  ,service4 ,no longer   
does he work for anything for himself1  
but to carry  out the ,divine ,will in  
,evolution4 ,has not ,shr ,kha said that
  ,he acts perpetually8 ,because1 if ,i 
do not act1 ,he says1 all these  worlds 
would perish4 ,i have nothing to gain1  
are ,his words4 ,but  they would perish1
 save for ,him1 and ,he goes on to say3 
,let the  wise man1 acting with me1     
render all action attractive4 ,action is
  only a clog1 is only a fetter1 after  
man has gained all its fruit in         

experience1 when it is not done for the 
sake of sacrifice4 ,but when  the action
 is consecrated to the ,service of ,god 
and ,man1 that action  becomes wings    
that uplift1 and not fetters that clog1 
the advancing  ,spirit4 ,and so1 in the 
arrangement of castes that we have in   
,india1  there is one great lesson that 
comes out4 ,the ,shra1 the lowest       
caste1 is the man who serves all4 ,but  
the highest1 above all castes1  the     
,sannys1 what is he but the ,servant of 
humanity1 reproducing on a  loftier     
plane the ,service in which a ,shra is  
taking his first lesson  down here8 ,the
 ,shra learns service to others1 and    
accumulates what  he learns2 the        
,vaishya learns to sacrifice material   
wealth in charity  to others2 the       
,khariya learns to renounce life itself 
in defence  of others2 the ,brhmaa      
learns to renounce all for knowledge1   
that he  may teach others4 ,then caste  
has taught its lessons1 and the highest 
of all services are the services done   

for the sake of sacrifice by  the       
liberated ,spirit1 the ,paramahamsa1 the
 man who has gone beyond  the illusion  
of the ,separated ,self4 ,so wisely was 
planned the ancient  order1 full of true
 significance4    ,the only other point 
that you have to remember is that all   
this is done  under inviolable ,law4 ,as
 you sow1 so shall you reap4 ,there is a
 great  verse in a ,christian ,scripture
 too often forgotten by ,christians3 ,be
  not deceived2 ,god is not mocked2     
whatsoever a man soweth1 that shall  he 
also reap4 ,no use for substitution2 no 
putting on of an imputed  righteousness2
 no safety by a ,saviour2 you must reap 
your own harvest1  you must work out1   
earn1 your own salvation for yourself4  
,but this  remember3 that your only     
limitation in taking up the strength of 
,god  lies in you1 and not in ,him4     
,that is where the doctrine of so-called
  ,divine ,grace comes in4 ,as the ,sun 
shines all around you1 as the ,sun      
shines upon your house1 you may close   

all the shutters1 and say3 ,i  don't    
want light2 ,i shut my windows and my   
doors against the incoming  rays of the 
,sun4 ,so may you say to the ,supreme   
,sun1 the ,light and  the ,life of the  
,universe3 ,i shut against you the doors
 of my heart2  ,i don't want you to     
penetrate within me4 ,i close my doors2 
,i close my  windows2 your light shall  
not illuminate my ,soul4 ,and the answer
 of  the ,divine is3 ,behold1 ,i stand  
at the door and knock2 if any man open1 
,i will come in4 ,there lies what men   
call ,divine ,grace4 ,the grace is  ever
 there1 shining upon your closed        
shutters4 ,you may shut your door2      
there is no change in the effulgence of 
the ,sun4 ,and so there is the  ,divine 
,light ever around you4 ,you turn your  
backs upon it1 and you say  that it is  
dark2 you have refused to see the       
,light1 and you dwell in  the shadow    
that you yourselves have made4 ,well1   
stay there1 as long  as you will4 ,play 
with the toys1 as long as it pleases    

you4 ,but know1  that the day will come 
when the breaking of the toys will leave
 you  desolate1 and then you will open  
your hearts to the ,supreme ,love1 and  
say3 ,light1 come in1 and fill my heart 
with ,thyself1 for ,thou and ,i  are    
one1 we were never separate2 and ,i1 the
 child of ,man1 recognise my            
birthright1 and ,i claim1 in the        
,self-realisation of my ,divinity1 the  
fruition of my life as ,man4            
,,right ,,and ,,wrong      ,,friends3   
,the problem that we have to consider   
this morning is one of great  complexity
 and of great difficulty4 ,confusion as 
to ,what is ,right1  as to ,what is     
,wrong1 is unfortunately very general   
among all1 even  among educated people4 
,the standard of ,right1 the canon of   
,right1 that  is a matter that ought to 
be placed on some definite principle1   
some  intelligible axiom2 and1 if       
instead of such definite foundation1 you
 do  not realise on what the standard is
 based1 the result is necessarily  a    

confusion of conduct1 a doubt as to how 
,right and ,wrong are to be  determined4
 ,and so1 sometimes1 almost in despair  
of a rationally  intelligible law1 you  
find people saying that ,right is       
absolute1 is  always the same invariably
 for man at all stages of evolution4    
,the  result of that has been1 both in  
the ,east and in the ,west1 that a      
standard of conduct laid down for the   
,yog1 the ,sannys is held to  be the    
standard to be held up before the       
comparatively undeveloped  man4 ,the    
,sermon on the ,mount1 among            
,christians2 the teaching of the        
,bhagava-,g1 of action without desire   
for fruit1 among ,hins2  these are      
regarded as universally binding2 and the
 result is a divorce  between theory and
 practice1 between the conduct which is 
actually  followed and the theory which 
is intellectually accepted4 ,you find a 
striking instance of that in the ,west1 
where the ,sermon on the ,mount1        
nominally regarded as binding on every  

one1 is entirely put aside as  regards  
the vast majority1 and is held to have  
no bearing on ,national  conduct1 or the
 treatment of one ,nation by another4   
,you find1 for  instance1 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 week4 ,that is  
literally true4 ,for if1 when a man     
stole your  coat1 you gave him your     
cloak1 the result would be that the     
thief would  be doubly clothed1 the     
honest man would go naked4 ,if1 when a  
man was  struck on the one cheek1 he    
turned to the striker the other cheek1  
then  the oppressor and the tyrant would
 have free course1 and the doctrine  of 
non-resistance of evil would triumph    
over the resistance which  means liberty
 and progress4 ,and so1 in the ,west1   
which has as a rule  a fair amount of   
common-sense1 and is not too much given 
to logic in  practical matters1 they    
resist evil1 they resist the oppressor1 

they  strike back when a blow is given1 
and they do not submissively bow to     
every tyrant and every injustice4 ,yet1 
unless you bring into accord  theory and
 practice1 you have no rule of conduct  
which in any way is  an inspiration for 
life4 ,similarly in the ,east1 where the
 doctrine is  taught in the ,g that     
action should be undertaken without     
desire  for fruit4 ,there you have a    
doctrine for the ,yog1 like ,arjuna1 to 
whom the ,song of the ,lord was given2  
but if you say to the man of the  world1
 if you say to the man who does not     
regard the ,divine ,will as the  binding
 rule of conduct1 work without desire   
for fruit1 you paralyse  his activity1  
for there is no other motive            
sufficiently strong to move  him to     
action4 ,to work without desire for     
fruit means that your own  will is so   
consciously in accord with the ,will of 
,god1 that you work as  earnestly for   
the benefit of the world as the ordinary
 man works for  fame1 for power1 or for 

money4 ,that is the highest rule of     
conduct2 but  if you teach the highest  
to the half-developed1 you give them no 
ideal  at all which is practical1 by    
which they can guide their lives2 and   
the  result of that in ,india has been a
 paralysis of action1 and a yielding    
unduly to oppression and injustice1 as  
the ,sannys would yield4 ,now  ,hinism1 
as taught by the ,sages1 was not of that
 type4 ,hinism has  always had a        
relative morality4 ,the whole of that   
part of its teaching  which divided     
society into castes according to        
evolution1 the unfolding  of the        
spiritual life1 is a recognition that   
harma1 duty1 depends on  the stage of   
evolution reached by the man4 ,the harma
 of the ,shra  is not the harma of the  
,khariya or of the ,brhmaa4 ,the        
,khariya is to keep order1 he is to     
repress evil1 he is to  encourage good1 
he is to punish the wrong-doer2 but the 
,brhmaa1 the  ideal ,brhmaa1 he ought to
 suffer any wrong done to him1 for it is

 not  his harma to resist4 ,and so1 it  
is written1 that a man by following  his
 own harma1 he attaineth to perfection4 
,that it is better to  follow your own  
harma though imperfect1 than to follow  
the harma of  another1 for the harma of 
another is full of danger4 ,that has    
been  forgotten in ,india1 though1      
nominally1 the caste system has         
persisted4  ,and so1 with the teaching  
of the shramas2 the duty of the student1
  the ,brahmachr1 is not the duty of the
 ,ghasha1 the householder1  and when    
that is forgotten and when the duties of
 the householder are  put on the        
shoulders of the student1 you have then 
a debilitated race  of youth that is not
 allowed to grow to the stature of      
manhood which  follows youthful         
celibacy4 ,the duty of the householder  
is not the duty  of the ,vnaprasha2 the 
duty of the ,vnaprasha is not the duty  
of  the ,sannys2 for the ,sages1 the his
 that built the foundation of  ,hinism1 
they knew that morality was relative1   

and gave an evolving  ethical teaching  
suited to the evolving children of ,man4
 ,let us then1  with that preface1 try  
to find some common principle to which  
we can  refer ,right and ,wrong4        
,realise1 first of all1 what morality   
means4 ,i give it the definition  that  
,i have given elsewhere3 ,morality is   
the ,science of harmonious  relations   
between intelligent beings4 ,there is no
 morality for the  mineral2 there is no 
morality for the vegetable2 there is no 
morality  for the animal4 ,those are in 
the group under evolutionary law which  
compels them to go forward by the       
tremendous struggle for existence4 ,by  
that struggle certain qualities are     
evolved--the qualities which are  the   
bases of the humanity which is to be    
born into the world4 ,there is  a stage 
where there is no morality2 where the   
creature is not immoral1  but1 is       
not-moral1 is unmoral--without morality4
 ,he has not reached  the stage where   
conscious obedience to law is possible  

for him2 and  so1 as he is without the  
knowledge of good and evil1 you cannot  
claim  from him obedience to a law of   
,right and ,wrong4 ,not only so1 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 realise1 in establishing a     
,science of ,morality1 is a clear       
understanding of the meaning of the word
 law4 ,now law may be a  command made by
 a human legislature1 or made           
arbitrarily by the ruler  of a ,nation1 
changeable1 therefore1 with an arbitrary
 penalty attached  to its transgression4
 ,but the moral law1 like all laws of   
,nature1  is not a command either to do1
 or not to do4 ,it is a declaration of  
conditions which produce certain        
definite results4 ,chemical law does    
not tell you1 you must put hydrogen and 
oxygen together and produce  water4 ,you
 may produce water or not as you like2  
you are perfectly free  to make it or   

not to make it2 but the law is that if  
you put hydrogen  and oxygen together at
 a certain temperature under a certain  
pressure1  then you must produce water4 
,it is a statement of conditions1       
followed  by unchangeable result4 ,a law
 of ,nature1 therefore1 is not violable4
  ,you cannot change it4 ,nothing can   
prevent the formation of water1 if  only
 the conditions for its production are  
present4 ,nothing can ever  produce     
water unless the conditions for its     
production are present4  ,you cannot    
change it2 that is a law4 ,but1         
according to your knowledge  of law is  
your freedom in a realm of law4 ,the    
ignorant man goes about  in ,nature     
buffeted by her laws1 crushed by some1  
helped by others2 to  him the happenings
 are matters of chance1 for he knows not
 the laws  amid which he lives4         
,cabined1 crippled1 rendered helpless1  
he stands  before an inexorable ,nature1
 and knows not how1 or whither1 he      
should  move4 ,but the man of knowledge1

 knowing the laws around him1 walks     
with perfect freedom in a realm of law2 
he balances one law against  another1 he
 utilises laws that help1 he neutralises
 laws that oppose  him1 and in          
proportion to his knowledge is his      
freedom2 for1 as it has  well been said3
 ,nature is conquered by obedience4     
,obeying1 he is  free4 ,now the moral   
law is a natural law1 not an artificial 
one4 ,it is  an expression1 as are all  
the laws of ,nature1 of shvara1 who is  
the  life1 the sustenance1 of ,his      
,universe4 ,the moral law cannot be     
broken2  the moral law cannot be        
changed2 it is the will of ,god in      
,evolution2  and1 by that alone may     
,right and ,wrong be tested4 ,that is   
,right which  helps evolution forward2  
that is ,wrong which opposes the ,divine
 ,will  in ,evolution4 ,there is your   
standard1 or canon1 of ,right and       
,wrong4  ,oh6 you say1 that is not a    
rough and ready definition1 or standard4
  ,no2 it requires knowledge4 ,and so   

the his1 the great ,teachers1 have      
given certain commands--morals to be    
followed by the ignorant1 based  on the 
one supreme law of conformity to the    
,divine ,will in ,evolution4  ,we are   
told by ,vysa3 ,to do good to another is
 ,right2 to do evil to  another is      
,wrong4 ,we are told by the ,christ3 ,do
 unto others as ye  would that they     
should do to you4 ,but take those two   
moral commands1  and see whether under  
all circumstances they should be obeyed4
 ,as a  rough rule of conduct--yes2 for 
the masses of people--yes2 but can a    
,king obey ,christ's command1 or a      
,judge do unto others as he would  that 
they should do unto him8 ,when he has a 
murderer before him in  the dock1 and he
 sits to administer the law of the land1
 may he say3  ,i must do to the murderer
 as ,i would that he should do to me1   
and ,i  must not sentence him to        
punishment because ,i would not wish to 
be  so sentenced8 ,all these general    
commands as to action are limited in    

their scope1 are modified by surrounding
 conditions1 depend on the  position of 
the person4 ,you and ,i have no right to
 lock up in a room  another person      
because he has injured us2 but the      
,judge has the duty  of locking him up1 
if he has transgressed the law of the   
land and  prison is the appointed       
punishment4 ,another precept was given  
by a very  practical man1 ,confucius4   
,he was asked3 ,how shall we behave8    
,what word  is there which defines our  
duty8 shall we return good for evil1 as 
the  great ,sage ,lo-tsze has declared8 
,and ,confucius1 being a practical      
statesman1 answered3 ,is not            
',reciprocity' such a word8 ,if you     
return  good for evil1 with what will   
you recompense good8 ,recompense good   
with good1 and evil with justice4 ,now  
there you have the law of the  ,state4  
,the law of forgiveness1 the law of     
returning good for evil1 is  the law for
 the man aspiring to lead a spiritual   
life4 ,it is a duty on  the ,path of    

,holiness2 it is a duty of one aspiring 
to become a ,saint or  a ,yog4 ,it is   
the law for the individual conduct which
 raises the man  from the brute to the  
,god2 but for the ,state1 that is not   
the law4 ,for  the ,nation1 the stage of
 evolution has not yet been reached     
which can  return good for evil1 and    
allow an enemy to overrun the country   
and to  have his will upon the people4  
,and so1 in dealing with morality1 as in
 dealing with every ,science1 you  must 
use your brains as well as your         
emotions1 and you must judge the        
consequence of actions in order to guide
 your path4    ,looking then at it in   
this way1 we must see what evolution    
means4 ,it  means that at first progress
 is secured by inviolable laws of       
,nature1  that press upon a whole class4
 ,as ,i said1 the mineral1 the          
vegetable1  the animal1 they cannot     
resist the law2 they cannot evade it2   
they  are compelled by an inner instinct
 to conform themselves to the law  of   

their nature1 imprinted upon them by the
 hand of shvara ,himself1  and so you   
have no mental struggle4 ,the wild beast
 in the forest1 he  develops keenness1  
swiftness1 shrewdness1 cunning1 because 
without  them1 he perishes4 ,when you   
come to the savage1 the law of evolution
  is very much the same4 ,the savage is 
without the knowledge of good  or of    
evil1 and that is recognised everywhere4
 ,most of you will know  the ,jewish    
legend1 how ,god created a man and a    
woman and placed them  in a garden1 so  
that they might enjoy the fruit of every
 tree in the  garden save the one tree  
that was forbidden1 the tree of the     
knowledge  of good and evil4 ,then comes
 in the curious point that ,god gives   
,his  creatures a command3 ,you shall   
not eat of that tree2 but1 having no    
knowledge of good and evil1 they could  
not know that disobedience was  evil and
 that obedience was good2 and1 as the   
fruit was attractive  and desirable1    
they ate and gained the knowledge1 which

 they had been  forbidden to acquire4   
,and so you have the curious condition  
that the  fall of man is brought about  
by his ignorance of ,right and ,wrong2  
he  does the ,wrong unconsciously1 and  
so gains the knowledge of distinction   
between good and evil4 ,now while it    
would be a terrible injustice that      
their ignorance should be counted as a  
sin1 for which any of us1 their         
descendants1 should perish              
everlastingly1 yet if you look on the   
story  as a symbolical representation of
 fact1 it becomes most illuminative  and
 helpful4 ,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 evil1 which   
brings happiness in  assonance with the 
law and unhappiness in discord with the 
law4 ,the  savage knows no ,right or    
,wrong4 ,you remember the most typical  
case of  the ,missionary1 who wanted to 
point out to an ,australian savage that 

he  should not1 when he was hungry1 have
 eaten his wife4 ,he was short of  food1
 the poor man1 and was very very hungry2
 his wife was the handiest  form of     
food2 he killed her and ate her4 ,oh6   
but said the ,missionary3  ,that was    
very wrong1 and as there was no word in 
the savage's  language for wrong1 he    
said3 ,that was not good4 ,i assure you1
  said the innocent savage1 she was very
 good4 ,there was no idea there  of any 
good except physical gratification1 and 
as the flesh of the  wife stilled the   
hunger of the man1 she was very good1 he
 answered4  ,now there was no ,right or 
,wrong there4 ,the man was unmoral2 he  
only  knew the gratification of his own 
desires2 he followed them blindly2  but 
that1 as with ,adam and ,eve1 was the   
road to progress4 ,he would want  his   
wife presently1 and he would miss her4  
,the gratification of hunger  was a     
momentary pleasure1 but the presence of 
the wife was a continual  help and      
service4 ,and so1 presently1 that man   

would think that it was  a mistake to   
kill her3 ,i had better have been hungry
 for a few more  hours1 and have kept my
 wife4 ,and the first idea dawns upon   
him that  the gratification of a        
momentary want is not the path to a     
lasting  happiness4 ,both are temporary1
 of course1 but one is longer than the  
other4 ,now the first lessons of the    
savage come along that line4 ,the  white
 man gives the savage drink2 the savage 
likes it2 he gets drunk2  but he finds  
in the morning that he has a very bad   
headache2 if the  attraction of the     
drink is greater than the fear of       
headache1 he goes  on drinking and      
drinking1 until he dies perhaps in      
delirium tremens4  ,and looking at it   
all1 after death1 the savages profit by 
that2 and  they say3 ,this drink makes  
us ill2 this drink shortens our life2   
this  drink brings unhappiness at last2 
and they learn after very many such     
experiences that intoxication is ,wrong2
 but they cannot learn this  without the

 experience4 ,they cannot gain knowledge
 without knowing the  pair of opposites1
 one of which is good and the other     
evil2 and all  the first evolution of   
the savage depends on his gathering     
experience1  which shows him that going 
with the law of health means happiness  
in  the physical sense1 going against it
 means unhappiness4 ,now the savage     
takes a very long time to learn this4   
,but he is not left1 as ,i pointed  out 
to you yesterday1 only to the gathering 
of experience4 ,some wise  man1 the     
,founder of a religion1 or nowadays a   
,christian or ,musalmn  ,missionary1    
says3 ,don't touch drink2 it will make  
you miserable4  ,he breaks the command4 
,how many ,hins1 how many ,musalmns     
to-day1  forbidden by their religions to
 take strong drink1 break the religious 
command and suffer thereby4 ,how many   
,princes of ,rjpuna have died  in middle
 age owing to excessive drinking2 so    
that you find a number  of young        
,princes succeeding to the gadi1 their  

fathers having fallen  victims to the   
curse of ,european drink4 ,the old      
,princes in ,rjpuna1  ,musalmn and ,hin1
 are the men who have followed the law  
of their  religion1 and have abstained  
from strong drink4 ,is that not a lesson
 to  the younger men who follow them8   
,you can see the result of the lesson   
in the improved temperance of the       
younger generation of ,indian ,princes  
to-day4 ,they have learnt the lesson by 
the experience of others1  instead of by
 the bitter fruit of experience in      
themselves4    ,for the elders who have 
died1 not only is there the command     
given by a  religion1 but there is the  
experience on the other side of death4  
,now  of all the miseries which can     
follow a man into the world after death1
  of all the miseries1 the results of   
drink are perhaps almost the most       
terrible4 ,there is a constant craving1 
for not in the physical body but  in the
 senses of the ,skhma ,sharra1 lie the  
craving1 the desire1 the  longing for   

sensual gratification2 and1 if a man has
 been drunken1 if  he has been          
profligate in his life1 he finds himself
 tortured on the  other side of death by
 the drink he cannot enjoy1 by the      
craving of the  sex instinct which he   
cannot gratify4 ,torn by the agony of   
longing1  frustrated by the             
impossibility of gratification1 there is
 branded  on that soul1 as with a       
red-hot iron3 ,it is foolish to yield to
  gratification that brings about the   
misery that now ,i am suffering4 ,he    
has to starve out the craving by        
non-satisfaction1 and the agonies of    
starvation are his doom4 ,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 body4 ,that comes back  
in the next life--or after  many        
lives--that comes back in an innate     
distaste for this form of               
sense-gratification4 ,you say3 ,would it
 not have been better that he  should   

have been spared this long experience8  
,nay1 it would not have  been better2   
for you are only finally rid of a       
craving1 when you cease  to desire that 
which gratifies it2 and the teaching of 
pain kills the  desire1 whereas the     
enforced abstinence1 not killing the    
desire1  would ever leave you a prey to 
the possibility of temptation4 ,that is 
why the striking of the transgressor by 
the disregarded law1 is the  veriest    
mercy in the long life of ,man4    ,most
 of you have been evolved without       
craving for drink2 most of you1  if you 
have touched it1 have thrown it aside as
 distasteful4 ,it has no  power over    
you2 it has no attraction for you2 you  
turn away from it  with disgust1 as that
 which cannot tempt2 and the only way of
 reaching  that point is to have had    
experience of the evil1 and to know that
 it  is the womb of pain4 ,now out of   
this grows one great lesson for those   
of you who are more advanced4 ,you know 
that sometimes1 you who are  fathers and

 mothers1 you know that against all     
precept1 against all  training1 against 
all prayer1 your son goes wrong4 ,you   
have told him3  ,my boy1 to give way to 
passion is ruinous2 you have told him3  
,if you  yield1 you will suffer in your 
manhood4 ,he disregards your prayer2 he 
disregards your commands2 the wild youth
 goes on2 he will have his way4  ,in    
that moment of parental agony1 in that  
moment of despair1 remember  that       
doctrine of the ,omnipresence of ,god   
that ,i spoke of in the first           
discourse3 ,if ,i go down into hell1    
behold1 thou art there also1 and        
realise that ,god--who loves your child 
more than you can love1 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  agony1 and teach   
him by the lesson of pain1 when he would
 not learn by  the lesson of precept1   
that there is a law that none may       
disregard and  live in happiness4 ,for  

,god is the ,pain that comes to the     
transgressor  from the disregarded law1 
as ,he is the ,bliss that comes to the  
man who  is in harmony with law4    ,now
 if you realise these great truths1 you 
will understand how morality  must      
change with the upward evolution of the 
individual man4 ,when  you see          
wrong-doing in the undeveloped1 when you
 see evil in the  savage--whether the   
savage who is an anachronism in         
civilised society1  or the savage who in
 his own native conditions--you will    
realise that  that man is only beginning
 to learn the lessons of morality1 and  
must  learn them by dashing himself     
against the laws he knows not4 ,and so1 
gradually1 he grows out of the unmoral  
state into the beginning of  the moral  
state1 when he knows a little           
distinction between ,right and  ,wrong1 
and often chooses the ,wrong1 because of
 the temporary pleasure  that the       
yielding to the ,wrong affords4 ,and    
then he has the lesson ,i  have just    

spoken of1 until1 within his innermost  
nature1 he has branded  the evil to be  
avoided4 ,now it is no merit to any one 
of us that we do  not murder a man4 ,we 
do not want to do so1 because we have   
done it very  often in the past1 and    
have found that the fruit thereof was   
pain4 ,we  do not want to do it now1 and
 the not wanting to do a particular     
wrong  is the proof of moral growth4 ,i 
know how often we are inclined to say3  
,oh6 ,how admirable is the man who      
struggles against evil4 ,yes4 ,it is    
admirable for a man to struggle against 
temptation1 to see him fighting  against
 his lower nature4 ,he is a hero in the 
struggle4 ,but greater  than the man who
 struggles is the man who has           
transcended the struggle1  and who does 
the ,right naturally1 because he loves  
the ,law and feels  no inclination to   
turn towards wrong4 ,that is not so     
often remembered4  ,the man who has     
conquered in past lives1 the man who has
 risen above  the temptations that his  

younger brother struggles against1 he is
 at  a higher stage of evolution1 for he
 chooses with full conviction the       
concord with the will of ,god4 ,that    
means that the ,divine ,will in his  own
 ,spirit is emerging1 and that quality1 
the ,divine ,will in the man1  is the   
sign of approaching ,liberation4        
,come to another point1 where you do not
 know in a particular case1  what is    
,right and what is ,wrong4 ,to the more 
developed man1 it is no  longer a       
conflict between the ,right and ,wrong  
that he knows4 ,it is a  conflict       
between two duties1 and he does not know
 whether of the twain  is the one that  
he should follow4 ,there you come to the
 agony of the  opening ,spirit1 the     
unfolding ,god within1 who is faced by  
two paths1  and knows not which is the  
right one4 ,some arguments on one side1 
some  arguments on the other4 ,which of 
the two paths shall ,i take8 ,how may   
,i know what is the will of ,god8 ,that 
is the agony of the ,soul whose  will is

 set to the ,right1 but who does not    
know the ,right under the  conditions   
which surround him4 ,what does it mean8 
,it means that he  lacks experience4    
,for ,conscience1 that which tells you  
this is ,right1  that is ,wrong1 is only
 the accumulated experience of your     
past1 which  has registered certain     
facts in the nature that you bring into 
the  world with you as that fruit of    
experience4 ,you have murdered--you have
  suffered2 you are born with the       
instinct that murder is wrong4 ,you have
  robbed--you have suffered2 you are    
born with the instinct that theft is    
wrong4 ,that does not exist in the      
savage4 ,take a savage child1 and you   
will find that your precepts carry him  
up to a certain point1 and you  can go  
no further4 ,you can awaken in him the  
result of past experience1  but you     
cannot give him a ,conscience1 an       
experience1 which he has  not yet       
acquired4 ,but you1 you have a great    
fund of ,conscience1 a  compelling      

voice1 which says3 kill not1 steal not1 
don't give way  to lust which injures   
another2 you take it for granted that is
 ,right1  and that knowledge is the     
outcome of your past experience4 ,but   
now1 you  do not know what is ,right and
 what is ,wrong4 ,why8 ,because1 you    
have not  had the experience to enable  
you to judge in a new condition1 to     
enable  you to see the ,right in an     
environment that you have not been in   
before4 ,when a fresh step forward is to
 be taken1 when a new knowledge  is to  
be gained1 what shall you do8 ,you have 
to act4 ,first1 use your  best          
intelligence2 think as far as you can4  
,then try to put aside the  bias which  
the inner desire is apt to imprint upon 
your thinking4  ,try to put aside all   
questions of personal gain1 all         
questions of  personal loss1 everything 
which makes you more inclined to take   
one  path or the other4 ,it is a        
difficult thing to do1 and it implies   
considerable training before you can    

thus neutralise the inner desires  of   
your nature4 ,do your best2 and then    
having used your intelligence1  having  
put aside your desires1 try1 in that    
tranquillity of mind and  senses1       
lifting up your heart to ,god1 or       
,master1 to see which is the  higher    
path4 ,sometimes an inner voice will    
whisper to you and give you  guidance2  
sometimes a eva may help you and suggest
 the better path2  sometimes you are    
left to find your own way4 ,having done 
your best1  decide2 and when you have   
decided1 act2 for you have done all you 
can4  ,then watch the results2 see what 
is the outcome of your decision2  and   
you will discover by that outcome       
whether you judged rightly or  wrongly4 
,if you judged wrongly1 do not regret4  
,you did your best1 and  you have gained
 a new experience by the blunder1 and it
 will help you  in the future4 ,if you  
have done right1 you are stronger for   
the future2  you have solved a new      
problem and gained a new knowledge4     

,sometimes  you may come to a point in  
your evolution1 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 path4 ,you have  grown  
to the point where new ideals attract4  
,you have begun to realise  that the    
claim of humanity is greater than the   
claim of individuals  with whom you are 
connected4 ,you have come to the point  
to which all  must come1 to the point   
where to follow the ,right is martyrdom1
 and  where to follow the ,wrong is easy
 and is regarded as praiseworthy by     
those around you4 ,my ,brother1 if you  
have come to that point1 be glad  with  
exceeding joy2 for it means that you    
have gone beyond the normal  evolution  
of your race1 and that which is ,right  
to the men and women  around you has    
become ,wrong to you1 who have caught a 
glimpse of a  higher law4 ,and then1    
surely comes the question3 ,will you    
stand by  the fruit of your glimpse1    

alone1 unhelped1 unsupported1           
unregarded8  ,will you follow           
,conscience that bids you take the path 
alone1 or  will you follow the voice of 
the multitude1 still at a lower range   
of evolution8 ,it is the choice of the  
,hero2 it is the choice of the  ,martyr4
 ,better to die1 you will feel1 than to 
bow to a lower law than  that which your
 ,spirit has learnt to recognise4 ,to   
tell a lie is to be  debased2 to tell a 
lie is to lose the vision of ,truth2 to 
tell a lie  is to put a bandage round   
your eyes1 and to refuse to see that    
which  is already glimpsed4 ,and if for 
you it is easier to face calumny1       
ostracism1 the cold shoulder of friends1
 the hatred of ,governments1  and1 if   
against all these things1 you say3 ,it  
is easier to suffer than  to lie1 then  
you are taking your place amidst earth's
 ,heroes1 and you  are serving your day 
and generation4 ,but make no mistake2   
the choice is  not as easy as it seems4 
,the worst enemy of the martyr and the  

hero is  the inner enemy1 not the       
outer--the love that pleads with you to 
falter  in your duty2 worse than all1   
the inner doubt4 ,can ,i really be      
,right1  when every one around me tells 
me ,i am ,wrong8 ,can ,i alone see what 
ought to be done8 ,all these good men   
and women1 honourable1 faithful1  good  
citizens of the world1 tell me that ,i  
am mistaken and headlong4  ,is it not   
conceit1 is it not vanity1 to set my    
solitary choice against  the wisdom of  
the aged1 against the experience of my  
time8 ,ah6 that is  a worse enemy than  
any outside pressure1 for the outer you 
can resist1  but the inner saps the very
 essence of your strength2 the time     
comes  when you are able to say3 ,right 
or ,wrong1 whether it leads me to       
heaven or to hell1 ,i follow the ,inner 
,voice1 which is the best guide ,i      
have2 and1 if it leads me wrong to-day1 
,i shall know the ,right by my  blunder 
to-morrow4 ,i know that means courage   
beyond the normal1 but  that is the     

courage that the ,martyrs have shown1   
and posterity rewards  them1 if         
contemporaries destroy them4 ,for it is 
true1 as ,giordano  ,bruno said1 going  
to the stake3 ,to know how to die in one
 century is  to live for all centuries  
to come4 ,and so1 again1 he taught what 
he  called the heroic life4 ,it is      
better to try nobly and to fail1 than   
ignobly not to try at all4 ,that is the 
great inspiration for those who  have   
caught a glimpse of the higher4 ,follow 
your own higher1 whatever  it may be1   
and whithersoever it may lead you2 for  
the inspiration comes  from the highest 
yet manifest within you1 and not to     
follow it is to  be a traitor to the    
,truth you see4 ,thus1 by study of the  
,divine ,will  in ,evolution1 by trying 
to see where one stands in the long     
climbing  upwards1 every man ultimately1
 must be the supreme and final judge of 
,right and ,wrong for himself4    ,but  
remember3 you should not blame your     
neighbour because he does  not see with 

your eyes4 ,you should not despise those
 who think you  are wrong1 but weigh    
their blame1 and see how much of reason 
there  is therein4 ,remember also that  
in this struggle upwards1 full weight   
should be given to the experience of the
 race as well as to your own4  ,you     
should not despise nor flout those laws 
which keep the mass of  the people in   
the path of decency and of good         
citizenship1 and you  should remember   
the warning of ,shr ,kha1 so            
pre-eminently wise3  ,the standard that 
the wise man sets1 by that the people   
go4 ,to take  your own road alone means 
a tremendous responsibility1 as well as 
an  act of heroism1 for others may      
follow1 unknowing1 where you have       
deliberately chosen your path4 ,others  
less prepared by self-discipline  and   
training may rush in after you where you
 have opened the gateway2  and so1 in   
your action1 by which the blind must    
judge you1 you must  consider your      
circumstances as well as your vision of 

the ,best4 ,only  when to yield is      
treason to the ,highest in you1 should  
you set yourself  alone against the     
world4 ,tangled1 said ,shr ,kha1        
,tangled is  the path of action1 and    
that is true4 ,therefore you must       
develop your  intellect2 therefore you  
must train your will2 therefore you must
 try  to illuminate your judgment2 no   
headlong1 thoughtless action must be    
taken on the first impulse towards an   
unaccustomed path4    ,there is one     
thing that ,i have often said1 and that 
,i will here repeat1  especially for my 
younger friends1 whom ,i welcome to our 
meetings here4  ,i would say to them3   
,if you want advice1 and ask3 ,shall ,i 
disobey the  customary law1 and go my   
own way8--then wait4 ,the wanting of    
advice is  the sign that the ,spirit in 
you has not yet spoken with the         
compelling  voice that you ought to     
obey4 ,i have had boys come to me and   
say3  ,shall ,i disobey my father8 this 
refusal to obey seems to be the right   

path4 ,my answer invariably has been3   
,my boy1 if you are doubtful1 as  you   
must be since you ask me1 then obey your
 father and mother1 and see  what the   
result is2 for1 when the ,spirit speaks1
 no outside advice is  wanted4 ,the     
great decisions of the ,spirit are made 
in solitude1 and  they are not made by  
the advice of man4 ,if you want others  
to support  you1 if you want the opinion
 of others to buttress you up1 then the 
chances are1 when the moment of stress  
comes upon you1 you will quiver1  you   
will say to your adviser3 ,oh6 you have 
advised me to do this2 see  what trouble
 it has brought1 and ,i must suffer for 
it4 ,and so1 ,i have  never advised1 nor
 will advise1 a great act of sacrifice4 
,o crowd of  thoughtful men and women1  
,i say to you3 ,choose your highest and 
follow  it unflinchingly4 ,but if any   
one of you comes to me and says3 ,shall 
,i  sacrifice this8 shall ,i sacrifice  
that8 shall ,i disregard the other8  ,i 
say3 ,my friends1 the decision is with  

you and not with me4 ,your own          
conscience must guide you4 ,your own    
intelligence must direct you4 ,as  ,i   
cannot suffer for you1 ,i will not      
advise4 ,for one has no right to  impose
 upon another a sacrifice one is willing
 to face for one's self4  ,i know my own
 strength and weakness4 ,i am accustomed
 by many lives of  aspiration to judge  
what path ,i shall follow4 ,but shall ,i
 follow the  path that ,i see to be     
,right for me1 the path of suffering1   
and invite  others to enter on it1 who  
may not be prepared to face the pain8   
,no2  the decision towards pain must be 
made by the open vision of the one  who 
affronts the suffering2 otherwise1 in   
the stress of the agony he  may wish he 
had chosen the easier and the smoother  
path4 ,the pioneer  must know his       
strength2 the pioneer must be ready for 
the stones that  pierce his feet1 for   
the thorns that tear his flesh4 ,let no 
weakling  enter on the path of that     
higher1 more strenuous1 endeavour4 ,we  

want  pioneers4 ,but we want pioneers of
 courage1 of heart1 of strength1 of     
endurance1 that no danger can daunt1    
that no peril can paralyse4 ,only  such 
are worthy to come into the ranks of the
 pioneers1 who make the  path along     
which humanity shall march in days to   
come4 ,and if you say  to me3 ,why      
should we go8 ,why should we suffer that
 others may tread  smooth8 ,why should  
our flesh be torn that others may walk  
in ease8--my  answer is3 ,unless the    
,spirit is so unfolded in you that the  
path of  progress is to you the path of 
happiness1 so that when the feet are    
bleeding1 when the flesh is tortured1   
you can look up with a smile and  say3  
',lord1 ,i have come to do ,thy will'2  
until the path to you is the  only path 
of happiness1 you had better tread the  
accustomed ways of the  men and women   
around you4    ,for there is a time in  
evolution1 when all wish for aught the  
world can  give has vanished from the   
human ,spirit2 when there is no desire  

for  aught save that ,god's will may be 
done on earth1 as it is done in the     
higher realms of wisdom2 when to be     
allowed to suffer in order that  that   
,will may be done is a joy beyond all   
earthly joy1 is a delight  beyond       
anything that the world can give4       
,realise that the ,martyr and  the ,hero
 die1 because death is the most joyous  
thing that they can  meet1 knowing that 
by their death the world's progress is  
improved4  ,unless you feel this in you1
 then travel along the road that for you
  is ,right2 for the consent of the     
intelligence1 the consent of the        
conscience1 the realisation of ,god1    
these alone are the strength of the     
,hero2 these1 in the midst of the very  
flames of martyrdom1 enable him  to     
smile with joy1 for vision of the future
 that he sees4          ,,brotherhood   
,,friends3    ,we have arrived now at   
the last of the four ,convention        
,lectures1 and ,i  will ask you to      
recall for a moment the path that we    

have trodden on  these three days4      
,first you remember we considered the   
nature1 the existence of ,god1  ,his    
all-pervading ,presence1 ,his           
all-embracing ,love and ,power4 ,then we
  turned to the study of ,man1 and we   
saw that man evolved1 grew from a  ,seed
 of ,divinity into the tree in the      
likeness of the father-tree1  whence the
 seed was thrown into the world4 ,that  
he evolved under two  great ,laws3 the  
,law of ,reincarnation and the ,law of  
,causation1  or ,karma4 ,yesterday1 we  
considered the complex problem of ,right
  and ,wrong1 tried to understand the   
tangled path of action1 and to          
understand also how1 by realising our   
highest capacities of the moment1  we   
could rise higher and higher in         
,knowledge1 in ,power1 and in ,love4    
,to-day we close our study by looking at
 the ,law of ,brotherhood1  trying to   
understand what it means1 seeing what it
 implies1  endeavouring then1 in the    
understanding1 to see the principles on 

which a stable ,society may be builded1 
and to glance forward into the  near    
future of ,humanity1 with the changed   
ideals which will illuminate  the       
,coming ,race4    ,now1 this word1      
,brotherhood1 has been used for many    
ages and held to  cover many different  
ideals4 ,first of all1 let us take the  
fact that  ,brotherhood does not and    
cannot connote equality1 save in blood1 
in  essence2 rather does it connote     
inequality of age and development4 ,as  
you know1 you have the proclamation     
talked of so much in the ,french        
,revolution1 ,liberty1 ,equality1       
,fraternity1 and it has been taken for  
granted by many that ,liberty and       
,fraternity imply the middle term1      
,equality4 ,now what is meant by the    
word ,equality8 ,if it be meant that    
all men are equal in their origin1 that 
every man is born of the ,divine        
,nature1 that every man ultimately will 
reach the manifested ,divinity1  in that
 sense ,equality is true4 ,we all come  

forth from ,god1 we all  return to ,god1
 bearing with us the harvest of our long
 evolution1  having unfolded            
potentiality into power4 ,in the        
beginning and the  ending1 men are      
equal1 equally divine in their          
beginning1 equally  divine in their     
ending2 there all men stand on a common 
platform4 ,but  in the long course of   
evolution from the seed to the          
full-grown tree1  in the long unfolding 
of ,divinity1 of ,god manifest in the   
flesh1 in  the long changing struggle   
between ,spirit and ,matter1 there the  
races  of mankind stand at different    
stages of their pilgrimage1 and they are
  not on a common level1 but are        
divorced the one from the other3 ,while 
in ,spirit all men are equal1 in the    
flesh men are radically unequal2  for   
,nature1 in her long evolution1 knows   
nothing of equality1 and  protests      
continually by facts against the theory 
of the eighteenth and  the early        
nineteenth century4 ,where is the       

equality between the man  of genius and 
the fool8 ,where is the equality between
 the stalwart  and healthy man and the  
man who has inherited a terrible        
disease8  ,where is the equality between
 the cripple and the athlete8 ,between  
the ,saint who has nearly accomplished  
his pilgrimage1 and the savage  who     
stands at the beginning8 ,it is of no   
use to repeat a phrase that  flies in   
the very face of facts and of ,nature4  
,brotherhood connotes  inequality of    
age1 inequality of capacity1 and        
inequality of duty4 ,the  duty of the   
elder brother is not the duty of the    
babe in the cradle4  ,you do not crush  
the infant of a year old with the heavy 
burden of the  family that lies on the  
elder brother1 who has passed out into  
the  struggle of life2 and you need to  
get rid of the cant of a phrase and  to 
understand the reality of life4 ,you    
have to realise that the most  that can 
be asked--because the most that is      
possible--in the building  up of        

,society1 is that no man shall          
artificially1 by a man-made law or      
custom1 be placed at an unfair          
disadvantage so far as those around  him
 are concerned1 but that there shall be 
equality before the law1  equality of   
rich and poor before the law1 equality  
of every citizen  in the face of the    
law4 ,moreover1 you ought to make it    
your ideal to  give to every man equal  
opportunities2 but you must remember    
that the  radical inequality lies in the
 power to grasp an opportunity when it  
comes2 there is the radical natural     
inequality that no human society  and no
 human law can obviate4    ,but if you  
realise ,brotherhood then you come to a 
new conception4 ,you  imagine the       
building of a social system1 in which   
every man who is  born into it shall    
have the opportunity of developing every
 faculty  he brings with him into the   
world4 ,a social system wherein from    
every  member of the ,society there     
shall be demanded social service        

according  to his capacity1 and to every
 member shall be given social helping   
according to his needs4 ,you change the 
law of struggle into the law  of life2  
you change the brute law of the struggle
 for existence into  the social law of  
sacrifice4 ,you begin to realise1 as    
,huxley said1  quoting a statement of a 
,master1 an ,indian hi1 that while the  
brute progresses by the law of the      
survival of the fittest1 the man        
progresses by the law of                
self-sacrifice4#a ,there you come to the
  higher ideal and you see that in an   
elder brother there is inequality  of   
age1 and therefore inequality of        
capacity1 therefore inequality of       
power1 and therefore inequality of duty4
 ,by the law of love1 the strong  exist 
not for tyranny but for service1 and    
where the weakest members  are found    
there the tenderest compassion protects 
them1 and saves them  from being        
trampled under foot4 ,therefore was it  
said by one of the  great ,prophets of  

our race1 by the ,christ of ,juda3 ,let 
the greatest  among you be as he that   
doth serve4 ,great is the strength      
evolved1 but  for helping not for       
trampling2 and so the inequalities of   
,nature are  redressed by an infinite   
compassion4    ,let us see how in the   
ancient world these principles1 or the  
denial  of these principles1 has worked4
 ,now the ancient ideal of ,kingship  is
 drawn from the perfect example in the  
great ,white ,brotherhood of  the his of
 the race1 wherein you find a graded    
order4 ,they call  themselves the ,elder
 ,brothers of mankind4 ,those whom we   
call ,masters1  because of ,their       
greatness1 ,they love better the name of
 ,elder ,brothers  on whom lies the duty
 of guidance1 of protection1 of helping1
 in order  that the younger brothers of 
our ,humanity may come to stand where   
,they are standing4 ,there is the       
perfect ,brotherhood4 ,these1 older in  
evolution than ourselves1 wiser because 
of that longer evolution1 these         

,jvanmukas1 these liberated ,spirits1   
,they1 who are free by right1  become   
bound to our earth by love4 ,they remain
 waiting for the growth  of ,their      
younger brethren2 ,they use ,their      
wisdom to guide them2 ,they  use ,their 
power to protect them2 ,they use ,their 
age to strengthen and  sustain them4    
,there is the ideal of ,brotherhood1    
where ,brother means  the ,servant of   
mankind4    ,and from that early        
recognition of the ,elders in the       
childhood of  the ,root ,races of the   
world1 you come to the first great      
historical  exemplification1 the ,divine
 ,dynasties1 the ,divine ,kings1 as you 
find  them in ,egypt1 as you find them  
in ,india1 to go no further back to     
that earlier civilisation of the fourth 
,race1 where in the ,city of the        
,golden ,gate1 of which the ,chinese    
tell us1 the ,divine ,emperor ruled     
with mighty power1 and built the great  
,toltec race into a world-wide          
dominion4 ,i will not go back so far1   

nor will ,i pause on ,egypt1  because   
here1 in ,india1 we have in the still   
living literature of the  ancient days1 
the duties laid down which fall upon the
 ,elder ,brother  in a ,nation1 who in  
those ancient days was the recognised   
,king of the  people4 ,you find ideal   
,kings1 like ,shr ,rmachanra1 and you   
can see in  ,his life1 as you can see in
 the description of the duty of the     
,king1  what1 from the standpoint of the
 ,elder ,brothers of the race1 was meant
  by the position of the ,king4 ,his    
life is not a life of enjoyment1 but  of
 service and of sacrifice4 ,it is       
written1 that the ,king remains  awake1 
in order that his subjects may sleep2   
that the ,king toils1 in  order that his
 subjects may enjoy2 that the ,king     
faces danger1 in  order that his people 
may be protected2 that he is the        
,supporter of  the ,state1 the ,guardian
 of the weak1 the ,dispenser of ,justice
 to his  people1 the ,father of the     
fatherless1 and the ,husband of the     

widow4  ,and so in early days the hi    
comes to the court of the ,king1 and    
questions him how he is ruling his      
younger brothers4 ,have you seen1  asked
 ,nraa1 when ,he came to a later        
dynasty1 no longer divine2 have  you    
seen that the artisans are provided with
 all the materials that  they need for  
their manufactures and industries8 ,have
 you seen that  the agriculturists have 
a store of seeds1 that they are provided
 with  water1 and with agricultural     
implements8 ,do you take care that your 
soldiers receive their wages8 ,do you   
take care that the widows and  orphans  
of those who have died for you in battle
 are well provided  for and carefully   
tended8 ,and so1 this ,elder ,brother of
 the race1  coming to this man1 divine  
no longer1 but only a human copy of the 
once  manifested ,divine ,king1 pressed 
on him the duties of his station1 and   
demanded whether those duties were being
 rightly exercised4 ,out of that  great 
ideal of ,kingship has grown the        

reverence for the modern ,king1  though 
he be of smaller stature1 and has not   
often fulfilled his duties  well2 for   
that ideal has printed itself on the    
heart of mankind1 and  the passionate   
love1 the intense loyalty1 that go out  
to a ,king1 who  is in any sense worthy 
of ,kingship1 show how the human heart  
loves to  reverence and to honour1 where
 high power and great position are in   
any  way worthy of the privileges       
enjoyed4    ,and always one great       
warning went out to those ancient       
,kings1 as spoken  by ,bhhma1 the       
,master of harma1 when the blameless    
,king  ,yuhihthira went to him to ask as
 to the duties of the ,elder ,brother   
of the ,nation4 ,he bade him remember   
that behind the ,king was the ,law1  the
 ,divine ,law1 which none might break   
with impunity4 ,and then those  famous  
words were spoken that every ,king      
should daily remember3 ,take  care1 ,o  
,king1 of the weak1 not of the strong2  
take care of the weak1  for the tears of

 the weak undermine the throne of       
,kings4 ,that is the  great lesson for  
modern rulers4 ,you may have enemies1   
you can fight  them and conquer them2   
you may have difficulties1 you can      
surmount  them and turn them into steps 
upwards2 but take care of the poor1 take
  care of the miserable1 take care of   
the starving of your realm4 ,for  of    
these1 said ,bhhma1 to whose cry no man 
listens1 the cry enters  into the ears  
of ,god1 who calls on ,his              
representative to give account  for the 
miseries of the poor1 and who avenges   
their wrongs by the  destruction of the 
careless ,king4 ,now there lies the old 
ideal4    ,but many of the ,states of   
the past were built on the denial of    
this  great ,law of ,brotherhood4 ,look 
at ,babylonia2 look at the later ,egypt2
  look at the so-called ,republics of   
,greece2 look at the masses of  the     
people under the ,roman ,empire2 what do
 you find8 ,you find that  every great  
,empire of the later past has been built

 on a foundation  of the misery of the  
lowest of the people4 ,you find that the
 vast  majority in these ,empires were  
slaves--slaves in name1 as well as in   
reality4 ,brotherhood was denied2 the   
weak were trampled on2 strength  was    
used to plunder and not to cherish2 with
 the result that every  such ,empire has
 faded from the pages of history4 ,when 
we want to know  their stories we have  
to burrow in their sepulchres1 for they 
built  against the ,law of ,brotherhood1
 and the ,law has broken them into      
pieces1 and they are dead4 ,now of all  
the ancient ,empires1 ,babylonia1       
,assyria1 ,nineveh1 ,egypt1 ,greece1    
,rome1 all these have passed away2  only
 one ,nation remains of that splendid   
circle of civilisations in  the past2   
only one people1 contemporary with those
 mighty ,empires1 is  still a living    
,nation2 they are dead1 nay1 they are   
buried1 and only  the fragments of their
 bones remain2 but one of their         
contemporaries  lives in our modern     

days1 for the ,india1 that traded with  
,babylonia  in the might of her         
prosperity1 is a living ,nation in the  
twentieth  century4 ,and why8 because in
 her teaching1 because in her religion1 
because in her literature1 she taught   
the ,law of ,brotherhood1 though  later 
she ceased to live it out in practice1  
and then began her long  downward       
course4 ,the old theory of the castes   
was a law of ,brotherhood2  the ,shra   
who serves1 said ,manu1 he is to be the 
younger child in  your family4 ,there is
 no humiliation in being a younger child
 in a  family2 there is no shame in     
being one of the juniors of the circle  
of brothers and sisters2 nay1 it means  
the enjoyment of the tenderest          
compassion2 it means a gentle protective
 attitude2 it means that when  anything 
is wanted1 the younger shall have what  
there is and the elder  shall go        
without4 ,that was the old ideal of the 
,shra1 who was to  be the young and     
undeveloped soul4 ,let him in the       

,national household  be the cherished   
youngling of the family2 let him be as  
your younger  son4 ,then came           
restrictions with the growing age of the
 soul4 ,the  ,vaishya--he was to        
accumulate wealth2 he was to enjoy2 he  
was to be  the centre of the great      
family life1 the parent1 the supporter  
of the  whole ,national household4      
,certainly wealth was to be acquired1   
but in  order to be dispensed--wealth to
 support the remaining ,orders in the   
,state4 ,and that charity that you still
 find in ,india1 the charity which  is  
of the older days rather than of to-day1
 is still ingrained in the  whole       
,vaishya caste4 ,for though they will   
gather wealth--pie by pie1  anna by     
anna1 rupee by rupee1 they give it away 
in lakhs and crores  for the use of the 
people4 ,all that is wanted in this     
charity is to  change the direction4    
,there is no use in letting fertilising 
water run  over rocks1 because they were
 once fields2 turn it into the fields of

  to-day1 which will then blossom as the
 rose4 ,i say of the charity of  this   
great wealth-caste1 the merchants1 the  
traders1 of modern ,india1  that they   
should turn the wealth they give away so
 largely into the  fertilising streams  
which will nourish the ,national fields4
 ,their  duty as brothers who are       
working for the ,national household1 is 
not  only to build temples1 to gild the 
outside of those temples of evas4  ,what
 is the use of a temple1 if the         
worshippers are not there8 ,and if  you 
let your youths grope through their     
studies without knowledge of  religion1 
of what avail to build a temple which   
will be left empty by  them in their    
manhood8 ,it is the young who need      
training in religion  and in morality1  
and such education is stopped for lack  
of the ,vaishya  liberality4 ,education 
is left in the hands of ,government1    
whereas it is  the duty of the          
householders of the ,nation4 ,education 
under ,national  control1 ,education in 

which religion shall form an integral   
part of  the curriculum1 that is what   
,india is demanding to-day1 and what    
many  are struggling to gain4 ,that     
,central ,hin ,college which we built   
in ,benares1 which has now flowered into
 the great ,hin ,university1  in that   
you have an attempt1 partly frustrated1 
,i admit1 to have a  ,university under  
,national control2 down in the ,south1  
in the great  foundation of a merchant  
of ,madras1 ,pachaiyappa1 there you have
 also  the possibility of building up   
out of a ,college1 a ,university under  
,national control4    ,and remember that
 in this matter1 the ,indian ,states    
under their own  ,princes are showing   
the way in which ,education should be   
developed4  ,h4 ,h4 the ,nizam1 the     
,ruler of ,hyderabad1 was first of the  
,indian  ,princes who gave the order    
that in every ,state school in his realm
  religion should be taught4 ,the       
religion of ,islm to the ,musalmns1  the
 ,hin religion to the ,hins4 ,and he    

took our textbooks from the  ,central   
,hin ,college in order that his ,hin    
subjects might be  taught along liberal 
orthodox lines2 it was a ,musalmn       
,minister of  ,education who sent out   
the decree that through the kingdom of  
,hyderabad  every child should be       
trained in his father's religion1 and   
that  religious education should be a   
part of the duty of the ,state4 ,and    
then1 ,h4 ,h4 the ,maharaja of ,mysore  
took up the same line1 and in the       
,state ,schools of ,mysore1 religion is 
an integral part of education4 ,so  it  
is in some of the ,rjput ,states2 so it 
is in some of the ,kathiawar  ,states2  
and these ,indian ,princes are showing  
the way to a religious  education1 that 
shall be ,national without being        
sectarian1 that shall  not proselytise1 
that shall not turn boys away from their
 ancestral  faith1 but shall respect the
 religion of the parents1 and bring up  
the  children in the faith into which   
they were born4 ,but you see how the    

realisation of this needs the charity of
 the great ,vaishya caste1 in  order    
that the money may be available which   
shall make the schools  under ,national 
control the equals of the ,government   
establishments4    ,then1 in that caste 
system1 you come to the ,khariya1 from  
whom  more was demanded than from the   
,vaishya4 ,he had the right to          
splendour2  he had the right to enjoy2  
he had the right to wealth2 but on one  
condition3 he must be willing to        
sacrifice everything1 if the safety  of 
the people demanded it4 ,from him was   
asked the offering of limb1  the        
offering of life4 ,if he ruled1 he must 
be first in the battle  as well as first
 in the pageant1 and he must learn to   
give up life1  family1 love1 and all    
that makes life joyous1 if the people   
were in  need of protection1 and if the 
order of the ,state were threatened4    
,and then came the ,brhmaa1 the teacher1
 the wise man1 the educator  of the     
people4 ,he was not to be wealthy save  

in wisdom2 he was not  to gratify       
desires1 but was to be the mouth of     
,god1 pure in conduct1  ascetic in life2
 he was to show that the wise man needed
 not wealth1  and that the duty of      
wisdom was to teach the people4 ,a      
splendid theory1  carried out for many  
ages4 ,all is in confusion now4 ,the    
harmas of the  castes have broken into  
pieces1 and with the harmas the reality 
has  disappeared4 ,and so the ,brhmaa   
the elder brother1 is a lawyer1 a       
merchant1 a physician1 or anything else1
 an engine driver sometimes1  but seldom
 a teacher from a sense of harma4 ,and  
with the old duty1 the  old reverence   
has passed away2 for only when the      
elders live up to  their duties can the 
youngers be asked to give them          
reverence4 ,and so  now1 ,indian        
,society has to be rebuilt4 ,it has     
lived1 as ,i have said1  because the    
,law of ,brotherhood was its centre1 its
 theory1 though its  practical denial   
brought on it the judgment of decay4 ,we

 find now in  our ,india a mass of      
conquered people1 a slave population in 
everything  but name4 ,the untouchable  
too often goes so foul in body1 so foul 
in speech1 in food1 that the cleanly    
shrink from personal contact1  and they 
are left in their foulness1 their       
degradation4 ,but if it be  true that   
the tears of the weak undermine the     
throne of ,kings1 what  of the denial of
 ,brotherhood which has made this lowest
 population in  our midst8 ,the sweeper1
 the scavenger1 those who perform the   
hardest  duties in ,society1 they are   
trampled under foot4 ,india cannot live1
 if  she persist in that denial of      
,brotherhood1 which leaves one section  
of  her population untouchable by the   
remaining cleanlier people4 ,they were  
conquered1 they were trampled on1 they  
were made outcastes1 every foul  duty   
was made their work2 they were          
sacrificed to keep you clean2 they  were
 untouchable that you might be refined2 
they were left in ignorance  that you   

might be educated2 and they were        
degraded that you might be  raised4 ,do 
you think that the cries of the         
miserable have not entered  into the    
ears of ,god8 ,and ,he looked upon      
,india1 and made a stern  decree3 ,as   
you enslave your brethren1 you shall    
yourselves be enslaved4    ,what ought  
to be the attitude of ,society towards  
the man1 the class1  that makes possible
 cleanliness1 refinement and delicacy of
 life8 ,if  you had to clean out your   
own foul places1 if you had to sweep    
your  yards and your streets1 would you 
be as delicate1 as refined1 as you  are 
to-day8 ,but if these men and women do  
these humble offices in order  that you 
may live in cleanliness1 ought you not  
to repay them with  gratitude and not   
with contempt1 with respect and not with
 opprobrium8  ,they make your lives     
possible2 your children will have to do 
these  things1 your wife and your       
children1 if the scavengers are not     
there to  do the work1 and you treat    

contemptuously those who make possible  
your  civilised life4 ,there lies your  
crime as a ,nation against ,brotherhood1
  and ,india need not expect to stand   
high among the ,nations of the world1   
until she sets herself to this work of  
redeeming her own outcaste  population4 
,you are not alone4 ,other ,nations are 
similar to you4 ,in the  country whence 
my body comes one-tenth of the          
population is degraded1  like your      
one-sixth4 ,one-tenth of the ,london    
population die in the  work-house1 the  
prison1 the hospital4 ,but ,i am bound  
to say to you1  though ,i am sorry to   
say it1 that you remain asleep while    
,england is  awake to her duty to her   
outcaste population1 and she is         
beginning to  redeem them from the      
degradation in which hitherto they have 
lived4 ,she  is educating them1 and     
where education is1 there refinement    
inevitably  follows4 ,she is beginning  
to realise that the lowest work ought to
 be  the shortest4 ,that the lowest work

 has a right to decent living4 ,that  if
 a man be sacrificed to social          
necessities1 he should be repaid by a   
leisure which would enable him to live  
above the degrading tendencies  of the  
necessary surroundings of his work4 ,the
 ,british are building  houses for them1
 they are educating their children1 they
 are helping  them to live in decency1  
and so1 they are gaining the right to   
enjoy  the freedom they have won4 ,and  
to you1 my ,indian brethren1 ,i would   
say1  that if you hold up your hands to 
shvara and pray that liberty may be     
your own1 those hands will never be     
filled with liberty until you have      
poured out freedom among your own       
people1 and have begun to redeem your   
miserable slave population4 ,for        
,justice is the ,divine ,law4 ,those who
  oppress shall be oppressed2 those who 
trample shall be trampled on2  those who
 make others outcastes shall be         
outcastes themselves4 ,until  you obey  
the law of ,brotherhood in your dealings

 with these younger  brothers1 ignorant1
 degraded1 helpless1 you will not win   
the smile of  the eva of ,india1 nor    
have ,his mighty force running upon your
 side to  redeem4 ,but you are waking   
up1 you are beginning to realise your   
duty4  ,schools must be scattered over  
the whole country for the education of  
the submerged classes2 every such school
 is a temple of ,brotherhood1  and is   
quickening the coming of the salvation  
of the ,indian ,nation4    ,and now1    
finally1 what is individual duty as     
regards ,brotherhood8  ,first1 to       
realise that the very condition of the  
spiritual life is  to see the same ,self
 in all equally dwelling4 ,the ,self    
dwells in the  outcaste as in the       
,brhmaa1 dwells in the most degraded as 
in the  purest and the noblest2 and     
there is one law of the spiritual life1 
that as you pour out to others1 so shall
 your own vessel be filled  with the    
water of life4 ,each of us1 then1 has a 
duty as a brother4 ,we  are the elders  

of those younger brothers of our race1  
and the ,law of  ,brotherhood for the   
coming ,society is1 as ,i said1 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 world4 ,that is the law  
of the coming civilisation4 ,every child
  born among you has a right to develop 
all that he has within him4  ,no        
obstacles should be placed in his way4  
,facilities of development  should be   
given4 ,some are not your equals1 but   
you must not therefore  stunt their     
growth4 ,every man has the ,god-given   
right to develop all  that he possesses 
within him4 ,you must put no artificial 
barriers4 ,you  must make no            
difficulties which shall be insuperable 
to them4 ,you must  help by virtue of   
your own longer evolution4 ,you must    
learn together1  in order that you may  
know the fulness of the ,divine ,life4  
,but there  is this great difference    

between the life of ,matter and the life
 of  ,spirit4 ,if on this table ,i had a
 heap of golden coins1 and if ,i said   
,i would give them to you1 what a rush  
there would be for them4 ,but  why the  
rush8 ,because you know that with every 
gold mohur given away1  there is one    
less to give away to those who are      
behind2 and so every  one wants to be in
 front1 for suppose there is not enough 
to go round8  ,sometimes men might try  
to grasp two or three1 so that they may 
have  for the future as well as for the 
day4 ,it is the law of matter that  it  
perishes in the using2 hence there is   
always struggle2 hence it  generates    
divisions1 it is the parent of quarrels4
 ,but if you knew that  there was enough
 for all1 there would be no struggle2 if
 you knew the  last would be as the     
first1 there would be no fighting4 ,the 
law of the  ,spirit is quite other1 for 
the ,spirit lives by giving1 not by     
taking4  ,the ,spirit increases by      
using1 he does not waste4 ,as the       

,spirit has  three great aspects of     
,will1 of ,consciousness1 of ,intellect1
 these  are the priceless possessions   
that we have1 and that we can give away 
without fear of wasting4 ,i have a truth
 that you have not1 and go out  and     
proclaim the truth among you2 am ,i the 
poorer because you know the  truth1 or  
do ,i know the truth all the better1    
because in giving it ,i  have           
appropriated it more thoroughly than ,i 
did before8 ,there is no  wastage1 there
 is no diminishing2 my truth is mine2   
and when ,i have  given it to every one 
of you1 and you all possess that truth1 
mine is  no lesser4 ,truth never wastes 
in the sharing4 ,as you can light one   
candle from another1 and the flame never
 diminishes though you light a  thousand
 from it1 so it is in the case of truth4
 ,knowledge lights new  knowledge1 so   
that the total illumination grows       
greater and not less4  ,hence if you    
have knowledge1 do not give it among    
those who already  share it1 but go out 

to the ignorant and give it to them4 ,if
 you are  wise1 your duty is to make    
others wise1 and not to sit in your own 
study and enjoy the wisdom as though it 
were a miser's treasure to  gloat over4 
,knowledge that is not shared becomes a 
cancer in the brain1  and the power to  
know diminishes and is finally lost1    
when you refuse  to share with your     
ignorant brother that which you acquired
 from the  boundless stores of ,nature4 
,and ,purity8 ,are you pure1 in order   
that you  may wrap your garments round  
you and say to the impure3 ,stand aside4
  ,i will not be polluted4 ,o my        
friends1 the purity that can be polluted
  is not purity at all1 but a garment   
cast over impurity1 hiding it from  the 
world4 ,purity cannot be soiled2 purity 
cannot be stained2 and the  duty of the 
pure is to go out among the impure1 in  
order that they  may be purified and    
lifted to the higher standard4 ,some ,i 
know1 would  say3 ,level down4 ,pull the
 educated down4 ,pull the ,brhmaa down4 

,pull the rich man down4 ,let us have   
equality4 ,equality of what8 ,of        
ignorance1 of misery1 of poverty1 of    
general wretchedness8 ,nay2 lift  up the
 poor to the level of the rich1 and let 
all be comfortable1  and none have      
superfluities4 ,lift up the ignorant by 
learning1 and so  let all be happy in   
the enjoyment of the treasures of the   
mind4 ,go  among the sinners1 the foul1 
and the debased1 and raise them up to   
your own purity1 and so let the whole   
nation be pure and educated and  healthy
 and well-fed4 ,and of this be sure--it 
is written in a ,christian  ,scripture1 
and is written hundreds of times in your
 own--,god has made  of one blood all   
the ,nations of the earth4 ,is there one
 man among you  who has not the right to
 lift up his eyes and say to ,brahman3  
,i am  ,thou8 ,is there one man to whom 
we can deny the glory of the indwelling 
,divinity of ,spirit8 ,if that be so1   
and you know it is so1 then as your     
body may have all the life-blood        

poisoned if a snake sheds his venom     
into the lowest part of the body2 if    
that poison circles in the blood        
through all your body1 your head and    
your limbs begin to be paralysed1  and  
your whole body suffers2 presently your 
body will die1 though the  wound was    
only in the foot4 ,so it is with the    
,nation4 ,if the poison  is in the foot1
 in the lowest part of the ,national    
body1 it spreads  through the whole of  
the ,nation1 and no part of it is       
strong4 ,if one  man be poor1 no rich   
man is perfectly happy in the enjoyment 
of his  wealth4 ,if one man be ignorant1
 no wise man can rise to the highest of 
his mental faculties4 ,if one man be    
diseased1 the health of the whole       
,nation is lowered4 ,oh6 ,nature is     
always teaching it to you4 ,plague      
begins in a filthy quarter of the town1 
but it spreads to a palace4 ,in         
,london1 in the miserable dwelling of   
the seamstress1 when she makes a        
ball-dress for a ,court ,ball1 she at   

times stitches into it her fever1  which
 is the outcome of starvation2 and the  
ball-dress carries it down  to the house
 of a noble1 and so it catches the fair 
daughter of the  family4 ,she catches   
typhoid1 and she perishes of the fever  
generated  in the ,london slum4 ,you    
cannot separate yourselves2 you are     
brothers  whether you will or not4 ,you 
change your bodies2 not one of you will 
go  out of this hall with exactly the   
same body as you had when you entered   
it2 some particles of your neighbour's  
body have come into yours4 ,some  of    
yours have come to me4 ,if you are      
diseased1 you infect others2 if  you are
 healthy1 your health infects others2 if
 you are drunken1 you  communicate the  
poison of drink2 if you are             
plague-stricken1 the plague  germs run  
from you to the healthy man4 ,god has so
 bound us together  that we cannot break
 the chain4 ,bound as brothers in       
suffering we must  be1 if we will not be
 brothers in love1 in health1 and in    

compassion4  ,and so1 to you1 my        
brothers1 ,i say3 ,take heed to         
yourselves2 you stand  with the greatest
 opportunity opening before you1 mighty 
possibilities  lie in the near future1  
which are yours if your hands are pure  
and your  hearts are clean4 ,no ,nation 
has lived1 where its poor were despised4
  ,the fragments of the past warn you of
 the dangers of your present4  ,live the
 ,law of ,brotherhood2 rescue the       
miserable2 teach the ignorant2  feed the
 starving2 nurse the diseased2 and1 on  
our ,india1 on her  future1 the eva of  
,india shall pour out ,his blessing1    
when she lives  the law that she has    
always recognised in theory4 ,that      
,future shall be  mightier than her     
,past has been1 a resurrection of the   
,spirit1 and the  spiritualisation of   
the flesh4    ,footnote #a3 ,the law of 
the survival of the fittest is the law  
of  evolution for the brute2 the law of 
self-sacrifice is the law of  evolution 
for the man4      ,printed by ,annie    

,besant at the ,vasanta ,press1 ,adyar1 
,madras4          ,transcriber's ,note  
,obvious typographical errors have been 
silently corrected4 ,variations    in   
hyphenation have been standardised but  
all other spelling and    punctuation   
remains unchanged4      ,footnote placed
 at end of respective chapter4