'Ka.VY\~d. A"3^ti^

THE SPIRIT OF THE EAST

I «AR 13 1944 '"^^

CONTRASTED WITH

THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST:

A S^rturp

DELIVERED BY

P. ramanAthan, k. c, c. m. g.
(Solicitor General of Ceylon)

THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS
AND SCIENCES

ITS OPENING MEETING OF THE SEASON
OF
1905-'6

^"^oG^-

Copyright, 1905, By the Author
NFW YORK, U. S. A.
1906

/

THE SPIRIT OF THE EAST
CONTRASTED WITH
THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST.

The Spirit of the East as contrasted with the
Spirit of the West is the theme on which I have
been invited to speak this evening. I understand
the request to mean that I should speak not so
much of the things of the body as of the mind ; not
so much of superficial growths as of fundamental
lines ; not so much of the outer life as of the inner
life, of the East and West. I understand the wish
of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences to
be that I should abstract from the vast and com
plicated phenomena of Eastern and Western civil
izations some central, animating principle or prin
ciples—some main current or currents of thought-
that characterize each of these civilizations, and
show the basic difference between them. I shall
not therefore contrast the institutions common to
both East and JWest, such as Home, School and
Profession, Married Life and Society, Govern
ment and Politics, Industry and Amusement, but
shall consider only the special fundamental modes
of thought which run through these institutions
and make them so different from each other in the
East and West. The task imposed upon me is by
no means easy, for though sociologists are agreed
that, as regards the civilized countries of the
world, the West contains "progressive" societies

2 The Spirit of the East and West.
and the East "stationary" societies, no one has
attempted to explain the real stand-point of view
of the two classes of societies, and Sir Henry
Maine, the famous historian of legal ideas and in
stitutions, frankly admits that ' ' the difference be
tween the stationary and progressive societies is
one of the great secrets which enquiry has yet to
penetrate." To consider fully a subject so deep
as this, four lectures at least are necessary, but I
shall endeavor to outline the whole in one lecture.
The words of Sir Henry Maine just quoted oc
cur in his work on Ancient Law which was pub
lished in 1861. After that he had twenty-five
years more of his favorite study of social and po
litical phenomena, while holding high offices of
state under the British government. In 1886 the
results of his further observation were given in a
book called Popular Government, but the mystery
of the difference between the main modes of
thought among Eastern and Western nations re
mained uncovered. Indeed he found a new dif
ficulty had arisen. He traced the idea of Pro
gress in "Progressive Societies" to the ancient
Greeks. From that source it passed to the an
cient Romans and thence, through the period of
Renaissance, the Lutheran Reformation, and the
struggles for political freedom in Holland, Eng
land, France and America, to the present genera
tion. But what Progress, in the abstract, meant
he could not tell. "Progress," said he, "is a
word of which I have never seen any definition
and which seems to have all sorts of meanings,
many of them extraordinary ; for some politicians
in our day appear to employ it for mere aimless
movement, while others actually use it for move
ment backwards towards a state of primitive 'na
ture.''^ How strange that social scientists should speak
of the West as consisting of Progressive Societies
without analyzing and detennining the meaning

The Spirit of the East and West, 3
of Progress ! I cannot help attempting the very
thing they have avoided, inasmuch as the solution
of the qiiestion asked of me lies in the results of
such analysis. Unless we know what Progress
is in the truest sense of the term, we shall not be
able to say whether or not the movements obsei;v-
ed in Europe and America in the different spheres
of life deserve the name of Progress. The simple
issue is. Are Western nations really progressing,
and if so, whither are they going?
To progress is literally to go forward. If pro
gress were confined to movement in space, and there
were metes and bounds to it, the beginning of pro
gress would be the point from which a person
started. If he had a goal to reach, but moved out
of the line of that goal, he would be said to be wan
dering from it. There is no difficulty about es
timating progress in space, once we know where
ve intend to go from the starting point; nor of
progress in physical growth as of an animal, plant
or other thing. These two kinds of progress are
%asible to the eye and measurable by tape. But
what is Industrial Progress? It expresses a
mental attitude, as well as the outcome of it. In
dustry is diligence in any employment, is a fea
ture of the mind, and when the mind eye and hand
work together on some raw material, wares of
different kinds are produced ; and if such products
are useful or ornamental, they become articles of
merchandise. The West has great ideas of Industrial Devel
opment in regard to its two phases, mental_ and
material. The West believes it to be an end in it
self, and works unceasingly, multiplying objects
of enjoyment. Each branch of industry is sup
posed to have an unlimited line of advance. Ad
vance where? No one can tell. The possibilities
of shoe-formation or house-formation or machin
ery-formation, or the formation of any other com
modity of trade, are like the possibilities of cloud

4 The Spirit of the East and West.
formations in the sky, or wa-^e formations in the
ocean. Even as the winds raise clouds for some
worldly end, currents of thought raise objects of
industry for the gratification of the senses.
Let us not misunderstand the meaning of the
expression Industrial Progress, or the raison
d'etre of Industrial Progress.
Industrial Progress means nothing more than
the impulses of the creative talent applied to the
production of things for sensuous enjoyment, and
this work of production is not an end in itself. It
is only a means to an end. To the producer his oc
cupation brings some money wherewith to supply
himself and those whom he loves with the needs
and comforts of the body, but money is not an end
in itself. Many millions are made in America by
industrial occupations, butj;hen comes the ques
tion of the millionaire, iSc what uses are the
hoarded moneys to be put? Schools and asylums,
hospitals and soup kitchens, are organized. In
schools, eyes, liands and minds are trained, and
the youth of the country are made clever and dili
gent ; and in asylums, hospitals and soup-kitchens,
the bodies of the diseased and needy are cared for.
But do bodily health and cleverness of mind ne
cessarily imply moral character or spiritual ele
vation? Are not Righteousness and Love of God
the noblest part of human nature, the part or re
gion within the body which it is the duty of every
one to attain by Work?
The West has yet to learn the real raison d'etre
of Work. In a house is sheltered the body; in the
body, the mind; in the mind, the spirit. The mind is
the medium between the spirit and the outer
world. When the mind is set upon Work, upon
Industrial Work, it becomes sharp and discrimin
ate, — "clever," as they say, — able and willing to
know, and to persevere in the pursuit of higher
knowledge. Then does it tum its attention from
witliotit to within. It gets to be reflective. Dur-

The Spirit of the East and West. 5
ing this stage of Introspection or Reflection, it dis
covers signs of the spirit enshrined in it. It be
comes meditative, and its interest in matters con
cerning the Spirit waxes fast. Even as, in days
gone by, the mind stood united to things of the
flesh, it now prefers union with the things of the
spirit. Once carnal-minded, and therefore dis
turbed easily, given to hate, wanting in restful-
ness, and crass in understanding, it is now spirit
ual-minded, and therefore forgiving, charitable,
peaceful and enlightened. This is the history of
the mind set on industrial ivork. Industrial work,
done ably and with a law-abiding heart, is indeed a
means to the end called spiritual-mindedness,
which is Righteousness and Love of God ; and the
greatness of industrial work consists not so much
in the production of perishable goods and "sky-
scraping ' ' cities, as in the cleansing and strength
ening of the mind, which then is prepared to see
the vain-glory of such worldly treasures and to
labor for the attainment of Spiritual blessings.
I mean to say that two classes of benefits flow
from Industrial work, one external and the other
internal. The external benefits are the production
of beautiful homes and cities, of increased com
forts and conveniences of the body, all of which
are perishable. . A boy was taught to make bubbles
out of soap and water. He gave his mind to that
work, blew the bubbles through his tube and con
templated them as they floated gaily in the air.
The hand that worked to produce the glittering
effect rested, as the mind and eye watched the
vainglorious thing fading in the distance. The
boy felt happy, but that happiness was as fleeting
as the bubble. In a similar way did Alexander
the Great and Napoleon project Empires, which
rose and burst even as they were looking on. The
external benefits of work, political or industrial,
are of little value to the worker himself. To him,
to the individual, far more important is the inter-

6 The Spirit of the East and West.
nal benefit to the mind, foi when the mind has been
cleansed and strengthened, it becomes qualified
for the higher work of reflection and meditation,
by which alone the Spirit within us may be found.
If a nation rests content with the external benefits
of Industrial work, without settling its refined
mind to the holier work of attaining spirituality,
it must be held to have missed the true end of life.
The West again is proud of its Scientific Pro
gress. This kind of progress consists of discov
eries and inventionswhich expand far and wide our
knowledge of things perceivable by the senses,
with the aid of such instruments as the microscope
and telescope. The brute-forces of nature un
earthed by it have been used in quotas of horse
power, to facilitate the operations of agriculture
and manufacture, to transport men and goods, and
to destroy one's enemies. Ingenious implements
of husbandry, trade and war conduce some to the
preservation, and some to the destruction of the
body. They are signs of the carnal side of civili
zation and intensify the belief of man in sensuous-
ness. The myriads who were proud of life in Ba
bylon, Sodom, Tyre, Carthage, Athens, Corinth,
Pompeii and imperial Rome, died no better than
dogs, ignorant of the glory of the spiritual side of
civilization. The chief value of Scientific Pro
gress is' not its discoveries in the worldly plane,
not its advancement of the pampering luxuries of
the body, but the strengthening and broadening of
the mind, and so quali%^ing the mind for research
within us, within the Spiritual Kingdom. ^
Not more than 250 years ago, Thomas Hobbs
said in his famous work called The Leviathan :— ^
"The register of knowledge of fact is called
History. Whereof there be two sorts, one called
Natural History, which is the history of such facts
or effects of nature as have no dependence on
Man's will, such as are the history of metals,
plants, animals, regions and the like, the other

The Spirit of the East and West. 7
Civil History, which is an history of the voluntary
actions of men in commonwealth. ' '
Facts or effects of nature or Phenomena were
thus treated under the two heads of Natural His
tory and Civil History. In modern days, the sub
jects included in these terms have been classified,
with many other new subjects, on a different basis
as Sciences. The Sciences of Biology, Geology,
Physiology, Astronomy and the like have given
the death-blow to many a superstition and mis
take. They have scoured Nature, namely, the bo
dies of man, beast, bird, reptile, insect, worm and
plants, as also the sky, air, fire, water and earth,
and find everywhere modifications of one great
fundamental unity — uniformity of structure
and function pervading the universe in its three
fold kingdoms of mineral, vegetable and animal.
But the Sciences know nothing of the Unity It
self. Psychology is the Science which in the West
"professes to exhibit what is actually known or
may be learned concerning the Soul in the forms
of science, namely, the forms of exact observation,
precise definition, fixed terminology, classified ar
rangement and rational explanation." (Porter,
Human Intellect, 2, p.l.) For want of Spiritual
Discernment this science is in a hopeless muddle.
It is only those who have pure Spiritual Discern
ment that can see the mind and other parts of the
subtle body of the Spirit or Soul as something dis
tinct from the Spirit itself, and Spiritual Discern
ment cannot be developed until one hears and un
derstands the Sound Doctrine, or the Doctrine of
Truth, called in the West the Word of God, which
St. Paul observes is "quick and powerful, sharper
than a two-edged sword, so sharp as to sunder the
Mind from the Spirit" (Heb. iv, 12). This separ
ation of the Spirit from all that is flesh, from even
the Mind, is known to Indian Sages as Kaivalya
or Alone-becoming or Isolation, and to the Sages
of Judsea as Monogeneia. It is assuredly a mis-

8 The Spirit of the East and West,
take to render the world-renowned expression
monogenos huios as "only-begotten son." Its pro
per translation is Alone-become Son, The Spirit
or the Son is the head or king, whom the Mind, the
Senses, and other instruments in the body should
serve. As Western Psychologists have not dis
covered as yet the Spirit within the tangible body,
as an entity separate from the Mind and the
other parts of the Subtle Body of man, nor the
Boundless Being who is the Father and in whom
all Spirits live and move (Acts xvii, 28), the na
tions of the West make much of Phenomena and of
the knowledge of Phenomena. Until Western
Scientists certify the reality of the Noumenon and
have the light or knowledge of the Noumenon in
actual experience, they will continue to be quoted
as supporters of Infidelity and Agnosticism.
The true goal of Science is God and not the world.
The world is only the stepping-stone to God. Sci
entific Progress misses its inheritance if it re
mains satisfied with its rambles in the world.
The West speaks also of Political Progress, A
long-suffering people, goaded beyond endurance
by misgovernment, rise;? against their rulers,
overthrow^! them and establishejj another set of
rulers. This kind of Re-form is Revolution.
When, in fear of further misgovernment, the peo
ple agree that they shall be governed by their own
nominees, the peaceful reform of abuses and other
social disorders is effected by Legislation. The
materials for it, having been developed by discus
sion in domestic and social circles, are taken in
hand by the politicians of different parties. The
enthralling game of Modern Politics then begins.
It is a never-ending pastime between Blue and
Yellow in and out of Parliament, Diet or Senate.
Public men, public discussion and public events
constitute the panorama of Politics, the withdraw
al of which from the gaze of the people would
make life in the West dreadfully dull. Laws are

The Spirit of the East and West, 9
made, but amendments quickly follow. It must
be admitted that the ceaseless meetings and talks
about social troubles, and the shifting quick-sands
of wordy legislation, together with the changes
that occur in the personnel of the government, are
the phenomena represented by the term Political
Progress. How can the tinkering of the govern
ment, ousting of ministers, the making of enact
ments and the speeches of politicians develop
each citizen individually? How can the power
given to each citizen to nominate a member of the
governing body, or the measures of the govern
ing body for the promotion of sanitation in towns
and of security of the persons and properties of
the inhabitants of the country, make them individ
ually better in regard to Righteousness and Love
of God? Individual development in the plane of
spirituality is not the consequence but the cause,
of social amelioration. The aggregate called
Society is made up of units, and unless the units
are good, the aggregate cannot be good. If Soci
ety is to be improved, each individual should be
improved first.
Progress, as understood in the West, is mostly
the movement of thought towards the comforts
and conveniences of the body, not towards self-
denial or God. Progress here is human activity
allowed to freely vent itself for and in the gratifi
cation of the senses, or the pleasures of thought.
It does not aim directly at the improvement
of the Spirit. It does not know what the Spirit
is, or what relation the Spirit or Soul bears
to the Mind. It fancies one's thoughts to be one
self, and is therefore constantly making thought,
as if to be sure of being alive and to look alive.
Progress in the West is the making of thought for
amusement and entertainment, so as to have some
sensuous or intellectual enjoyment, or the making
of thought in the field of one's works so as to have
some money or other worldly end. The vast ma-

10 The Spirit of the East and West.
jority of the people here know nothing definite of
the spiritual side of human nature, or of Spiritual
Discernment or Spiritual EnjojTiient. "Quench
not the Spirit," said St. Paul from the East
(1 Thess. V, 19). His voice has been unheeded.
Blessedness, or Spiritual Happiness, or the un
changeable joy that comes of knowledge of the
Spirit, should be the goal of life, said another
voice from the East, Jesus Christ, but that too has
remained unheeded. Even Psychologists, as al
ready said, do not appear to understand what
Spirit, or Spiritual Discernment, or Spiritual En
joyment means. It has thus come to pass that it
is considered right and proper for anyone to pro
ject a new thought, and if it be skilfully and show
ily started, the unthinking world would merrily
stalk it. In the West, the Age of Progress means
only an age in which novel ideas of the machinery
of business, amusement and entertainment are al
lowed to live and die in due course as a remedy for
the tedium of work. There is no final end and aim
associated with this idea of Progress. Hence, it
is supposed that the Age of Progress is never end
ing. Its interest, no doubt, is in betterment, but
that betterment or improvement is of everything
save the Spirit, which it has heard of but not
found. So, all things that relate to the comfort
and adornment of the body are bettered. We
have novel pens, paper, eraser, knife ; novel tables,
table-linen, china, carpets and other articles of
household furniture; novel drinks, cereals, and
other food-stuffs ; novel dresses and jewels ; novel
houses, carriages, and ships ; everything presented
in novel forms and colors, season after- season.
Novelty everywhere, even in information. "What
is the news ? " is the anxious question on the lips of
modern nations, even as it was on the lips of their
ancient teachers of worldly wisdom, the Atheni
ans, for it is recorded in Acts xvii, 21, that "all
the Athenians and strangers which were there,

The Spirit of the East and West. 11
spent their time in nothing else but either to tell
or to hear some new thing." To be better to-day
than we were yesterday, to be better to-morrow
than we are to-day : to be better in food, raiment,
wealth, household furniture, social position and
rank, is the sum and substance of the belief of
what Sociologists complacently call Progressive
Societies. New ideas live and die like flies; and
sensible men and women look on, puzzled and be
wildered, at this ' ' up-to-date ' ' craze, knowing not
what all this crop of new thought and new prac
tice, — new fads, fancies, and isms, — mean. They
are all Passing Fashions, cried St. Paul, but thei;i
the latest announcement of the inventive milliner
and dressmaker at Newport is that Fashion has
now been ranked among the Fine Arts.
Western Progress claims to be heaven-born, be
cause it is rooted in Freedom. But what is this
Freedom? Matthew Arnold declares it to be the
abUity to do as one likes, and explains that "Ev
ery man for himself" is its rule of action, whether
at home or in society, business, politics or religion
{Anarchy and Culture). This is surely the free
dom of the wild ass. "Israel is gone to Assyria,
a wild ass alone by himself," said Hosea (viii, 8),
another man of the East, meaning that the Jews,
disregarding the teachings of the Law and Pro
phets, and estranged from God, the Father of all
spirits, were betaking themselves to sensuous me
thods of life. Is it difficult to understand that
man always serves mammon or God, that he can
not be without service to either the one or the
other, that he is either Earth-bound or God-
bound? It is simple fact that he is always, in
every country, iu bondage to either the world or
God, and that it is only when love of the world
wanes that love of God waxes. When Jesus, than
whom there has been no greater man from the
East, taught his disciples, "Whosoever commit-
teth sin is the servant of sin," and "Truth shall

12 The Spirit of the East and West.
make you free" (John viii, 32-34), he meant the
Freedom of the Spirit, that is, its liberation from
corruption or sinhood; and he taught that such
Spiritual Freedom was necessary for the purpose
of entering into spiritual union with God. It is a
contradiction of terms to suppose that a man may
be a slave to his desire — to his likes and dislikes —
and yet be free. "I would like to hit him back,
but I ought not to do so ' ' — ' ' I like mince pie, but I
must not eat it, ' ' — ' ' I dislike this man, but I must
give him his due," — "I dislike action in this mat
ter, but public duty necessitates it, ' ' — are expres
sions which denote that likes and dislikes, being
emotions of our lower nature, must be kept in sub
jection to the laws of morality and sanitation.
Therefore, the ability to do as one likes can never
be Freedom, in the proper sense of the term. It
cannot be Spiritual Freedom, for Spiritual Free
dom means liberation from corruption or sinhood.
It cannot be the freedom wliich the law grants to
each individual under the name of "personal lib
erty, ' ' for the law provides that the liberty of ac
tion of each individual must be subservient to the
rights of other individuals and to the rules of
morality enforced in the Penal Code. As to "Politi
cal Freedom, ' ' that phrase denotes only the power
given by law to the inhabitants of a country to take
part in its administration. And the "Freedom of
the Press" is the power given to publishers and
editors to express their opinions subject to the
penalties provided for defamation.
A consideration of the term Civilization, as un
derstood by Western Nations, will still further
illustrate their confusion of thought in regard to
this "mysterious progress," as Emerson calls it.
English writers are not agreed as to what Civil
ization means, or what elements that term repre
sents, or whether such factors as religion, liter
ature and government are its causes or effects.
According to the American "Universal Cyclope-

The Spirit of the East and West. 13
dia," published in New York, Civilization is a
highly and harmoniously developed condition of
the individual man, and of a state of society which
is conducive to the most favorable relations of the
individual man with his fellow-man. If that be
so, the conclusion arrived at by Buckle and Lecky,
in their well-known works entitled respectively the
History of Civilization and the History of Ration
alism in Europe, reduces us to the necessity of
supposing that Western nations are not fully civil
ized, since the joint testimony of these two philo
sophers is that all History proves that Western
Civilizations have progressed invariably with the
progress of scepticism, and that the general tone
and habit of thought produced among the people
by such civilizations is irreligion, irreverence, love
of ridicule, and an insatiable desire for new things.
The progressive and protestant wife of Martin
Luther is the saddest example of this decline in
Love of God, for she is said to have asked her hus
band, "How is it that, whilst subject to Papacy,
we prayed so often and with such fervor, whilst
now we pray with the utmost coldness and very
seldom?" Not less significant is the idea that the more ad
vanced the civilization is, the less powerful be
comes the individual ( Helps' Social Pressure,
p. 42 ;) and it is noteworthy that Guizot, who excit
ed the hope of being heard on the social and indi
vidual aspects of civilization, wrote largely of the
development of the social condition, but said no
thing of the development of the individual. There
is no doubt that in the West the contemplation of
society and the fulfilment of its demands leave lit
tle time for introspection and self-improvement.
Emerson has well said: "In Greece and Rome,
every Stoic was a stoic, but in Christendom where
is the Christian? All men plume themselves on the
improvement of society, and no man improves."
What confused notions prevail in Western

14 The Spirit of the East and West.
minds when they speak of Progress, Freedom and
Civilization! I do not blame the nations of the
West for the confusions of the present age. No
man wilfully entertains error. The spirit rejoic
es when it escapes from the captivity of error, and
how glorious is the day when, in the words of the
Psalmist, "Captivity has been led captive"
(cxviii, 18), that is to say, the captivating er
rors of the intellect or heart have been found out
and put under one 's heel !
There is error and confusion in the West be
cause the Teachers ordained for it have been ig
nored, and the world has run after other teachers
who have had only fragmentary views of life and
who constantly shifted them about. "If the
trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall pre
pare himself for the battle?" asked St. Paul, the
veteran, who warred triumphantly against Error
and Illusion. Our safety lies in our choice of
Teachers. "If the blind lead the blind, both shall
fall into the ditch, " said Jesus, (Matt, xv, 14). It
is conceded in the West that ' ' the doctrinaire, with
his finalities and finished schemes, must be
avoided," but, says Mr. B. P. Bowne, — "the law
yer, the economist, the historian and the moralist
must work together." So working together, he
thinks, "final practical formulas" for the solution
of the larger questions of society can be found
{Principles ' of Ethics), The truth, however, is
that such formulas can never be fully oi: satisfac
torily found until Worldly Experience is corrected
and chastened by Spiritual Experience. The dis
cernment of the worldly mind is far inferior to
that of the Godly mind, and both the smaller and
larger questions of society will be better under
stood and more skillfully and effectively handled
in their entirety, not in a fragmentary or piece
meal way, by men who have both spiritual and
worldly experience.
In the West, Physical Science has led to skepti-

The Spirit of the East and West. 15
cism ; Mental Science has nothing to say definitely
of our spiritual nature ; and intellectual culture is
found to be accompanied by a decline of Love of
God. Hence, Religion has been relegated by most
people to the domain of Manners. It has become
a ritual of society ; a rendering of account to man
in regard to Sunday duties. Of all idols wor
shipped in the West, Manners and Money are the
greatest. To men clinging similarly to formalism,
devoted to self-aggrandizement, and vainglory, —
to the Pharisees and Scribes of old — the great
Eastern Master cried nearly twenty centuries ago,
"Ye are like unto ivhited sepulchres, which indeed
appear beautiful outivards, but are within full of
dead men's bones" (Matt, xxiii, 27). Can dead
bones carry one to God? Are Manners and Money
useful at death-beds? Love of empty shew and
craving for wealth for its own sake, or for the
sensuous pleasures it is able to . buy, form the
leaven of worldliness. "A little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump" (Gal. v. 9). So a little leaven
of worldliness, in the shape of regard for show
instead of substance — in the shape of deference
to Manners instead of loving kindness, and defer
ence to Money for worldly gains — is sufficient to
mar wholly the, beauty of human life. Referring
to this liability of the mind to be ruined by love of
show and the praises of foolish men, Jesus said
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees" (Matt.
xiii, 33 and xvi, 6). On the other hand, the
leaven of Light or Spirituality, such as humility,
steadfastness,- fear of wrong-doing or righteous
ness would prevent the Spirit from becoming a
"smoking flax" (Isa. xiii, 3). The Godly
leaven would bring out of it Discernment or Light
and Love. Want of Spiritual Discernment and
want of Loving Kindness to all are the surest indi
cations of what is commonly called Foolishness,
or Ignorance or Barbarism.
In these circumstances, we must not be sur-

16 The Spirit of the East and West.
prised to find that Matthew Arnold has assigned
to the Aristocracy, the Middle Class and the Work
ing Class of the West, the name of , Barbarians,
Phillistines and Populace, respectively. "All of
us, ' ' he says, ' ' so far as we are Barbarians, Phil
listines or Populace, imagine happiness to consist
in doing what one's ordinary self likes. What
one's ordinary self likes differs according to the
class to which one belongs, and has its severer and
its lighter side; always, however, remaining
machinery (that is, mechanical agencies or formal
ities) and nothing more. The graver self of the
Barbarian likes honors and consideration; his
more relaxed self, field sports and pleasure. The
graver self of one kind of Phillistine likes fanati
cism, business and money making; his more re
laxed self, comfort and tea-meeting. Of another
kind of Phillistine, the graver self likes rattening ;
the relaxed self, deputations, or hearing Mr.
Odger speak. The sterner self of the Populace"
like bawling, hustling, and smashing ; the lighter
self beer." {Cidture and Anarchy, p. 98). He
vindicates his designations by explaining that the
culture of Europe is mostly exterior only: that
the Barbarians, who overthrew the Roman Empire
and re-invigorated and renewed Europe, accom
plished those feats by staunch individualism and
the passion for doing as one likes, and that these
qualities, together with their passion for field
sports, care for the body and cultivation of good
looks, fine complexion, distinguished bearing and
choice manners, have been perpetuated in the
families of the Aristocratic Class ; that the Phil
listines were enemies of the children of light, and
that the preference on the part of the Middle Class
of commercial, professional and industrial busi
ness to culture has brought them to the level of
Phillistines; and that the working classes are
very illiterate and unthinking, if not drunken and
venal. But in each of these classes, he admits,

The Spirit of the East and West, 17
there are born a certain number of persons with a
curiosity about their best self, with a strong bent
for the pursuit of individual perfection. By this
talented body, which is the flower or cream of the
three sections of Society in Europe, he says, class
life and worship of machinery have been checked
to some extent. As regards the United States of
America, he is of the opinion that neither the
class corresponding to the English Aristocracy
nor that corresponding to the Populace exists.
The bulk of the nation consists of a class similar
to the Middle Class of England, and the talented
class in America has been described as follows, —
" In about every small town of the northern,
middle and southwestern states of America, and
in each of our great cities and their environs, there
will be found almost invariably a group of people
of good taste, good manners, good education and
of self-respect, peers of any people in the world.
Such people read the best books, they interpret the
best music, they are interested in themes world
wide, and they meet each other with that mutual
courtesy and that self-respect that belong to men
and women who are sure of their footing. ' '
Happy are Arnold's phrases, — "class life" and
" worship of machinery," which the talented
class is endeavoring to minimize in the West. Let
us understand "class life" to be the life that de
lights in differentiations of all kinds and believes
in their reality, having no eye to see the harmonies
of the Spiritual Being which underlie all differen
tiations; and "worship of machinery" to be blind
devotion to the institutions of social life — to the
wheels and body of the carriage called Civiliza
tion, — without attending to the famished and
fainting spirit for whose special benefit all the
Institutes of Civilization were intended.
With class life and worship of such "machin
ery" as manners, money and physical power;
with activities all devoted to the production of

18 The Spirit of the East and West.
things new and astonishing; with mind bent on
impressing others and gratifying the senses ; with
wits sharpened for jest and fun ; without the least
suspicion that the love of the sensuous, the sensa
tional and the ridiculous quenches the spirit;
without love of God and reverence for the Spirit
and the things of the Spirit ; without any knowl
edge whatever of Spiritual Happiness and the
methods of attaining it; men and women in the
West are passing through life gaily dressed, too
occupied vsdth the things of the world to consider
why fatigue is in their faces, unrest in their eyes
and sadness in their hearts.
Such being the conditions in the West, Matthew
Arnold, who well knew the countries on both sides
of the Atlantic, deplored the confusions of thought
and absurd practices that have led to a miscar
riage of life in the West. He was of the opinion
that, while the work of bustling politicians had
created an anarchy of ideas, the followers of cul
ture should do their best to obtain some public
recognition of "the duty and possibility of extri
cating and elevating our best self. " " Everyone, ' '
said he, "is boasting of what he has done to edu
cate men's minds and to give things the course
they are taking, but we, the followers of culture,
do not pretend to educate anyone, for we are still
trying to clear and educate ourselves," It is
only men imbued with high enthusiasm for truth
and deep humility of character that can make such
a confession as this in public. He raised his voice
once again and cried "We want a clue to some
sound order and authority. ' '
This clue happily exists in the East to guide us
safely through the mazes of worldly existence.
The Sages of India — Sanctified Spirits in actual
fellowship with God — have taught from days of
yore up to the present day, by word of mouth and
in books, known as the Veddnta and Siddhdnta
Shastras, that life on earth is not a farce, comedy

The Spirit of the East and West, 19
or tragedy, but a great sphere of education, in
which the Soul {Jivdtma) is the learner (Sis^/a),
and God {Isvara) the teacher {Guru); that the
lesgon which the Soul has to learn is that it is in
bondage to Corruption or Evil or Darkness
{malam or avidyd) and should free itself from it;
that for the attainment of freedom {Moksha)
God has endowed the Soul with four sets of appli
ances; that the first of them is called its subtle
body {Sukshma Sarira) consisting of the invisible
instruments of nutrition, knowledge and action;
that the second is called its tangible body {Sthula
Sarira), consisting of nerve matter and the chan
nels of the nervous and other inter-related systems
of the visible body, in which the invisible instru
ments function ; that the third is called the train
ing ground or sphere of action {bhuvana) of the
Soul, consisting of such institutions as home,
school and profession, married life and society,
industrial occupation and amusement, and gov
ernment and politics; that the fourth is called
Experiences {bhoga) of pain and pleasure ; that,
with the help of these agencies, the Soul must
gradually forsake Corruption and attain the state
called Brdhmi .sthiti or Godliness, so as to be able
to enter into fellowship with God; that this pil
grimage from worldliness to godliness is called
Progress of the Spirit or Spiritual Progress ; that
the goal of all Progress should be God ; and that
he who misuses any of the appliances for spiritual
progress for base ends will have to render an
account when the day for it comes, for God exists
and is the rewarder and punisher of men accord
ing to their deeds on earth.
These teachings are not foreign to the West.
They are to be found in that best book of Christen
dom most appropriately called the Bible. When-
properly understood, it will be found to be truly
the Book of Life, capable of solving not merely the
question what individual development is, but also

20 The Spirit of the East and West.
what Civilization is, what the difference between
the so-called Progressive and Stationary societies
is, and in what way the East and the West stand
in contrast.
The difficulty of interpreting the Bible in terms
of its intended meaning has discredited the book
and its unspiritual interpreters, but its true mean
ings are manifest to those who have Spiritual Dis
cernment ; and Spiritual Discernment is the natu
ral inheritance of those who have broad minds and
pure hearts. It is not to self-lovers, but to those
in whom neighborly love abounds. It is the com
mon experience of humanity that philanthropic
men see better and further than selfish men. Love
is never blind in regard to the interests of those
whom it loves. The wider is Neighborly Love, the
more all-round does it see, both without and
within. Wider than this love is what is called
Perfect Love or Christly Love, the Love that
knows no depth or height, length or breadth (Eph.
iii, 18). The true meaning of the sayings of
Jesus and the Ai)ostIes are easily understood by
those who have wide Neighborly Love in them,
and the surest Interpreters of the Bible are those
who have Perfect Love, and the great Spiritual
Experience called Knowledge of God. From them
may be known the fact that "the Gospel of God"
means the Teachings of God, delivered through
the Sanctified in Spirit (like Jesus and other Mas
ters), as to the way in which God carries on His
work of illumination and emancipation, right in
the midst of worldly life, unseen and unthanked by
most men, through agencies of different sorts.
Addressing as I do a Christian audience, I venture
to think that it will be pleased to hear of the clues
furnished by those great Eastern men who have
been ordained from days of yore as the proper
Teachers of the West. When some of the sayings
of these Hebraic sages have been sufficiently inter
preted, you will see how their conclusions stand

The Spirit of the East and West. 21
corroborated by the teachings of other Eastern
Masters whom India adores. Then shall we un
derstand not only the animating principles of
Eastern Civilization, but also the position which
the great and hol)^ Power called Civilization occu
pies in the Unf oldment of Nature called Creation.
The first clue to ' ' some sound order and author
ity" which Matthew Arnold lamented the West
had not yet found, is to be found in the parable of
the Prodigal Son. A parable is of course a com
parison or contrast, and what was contrasted was
the son that was lost and found, with the
son that was never lost. Jesus meant by the
the son that was lost and found the spirit who had
strayed away into the mazes of worldliness, and
returned to Godliness, — the spirit who, through
ignorance of his great heritage of Light and Love,
fell into the slums of sensuousness and material
ism and then, being tired of them, became, by
reflection, alive unto God. This parable is worthy
of all consideration. It depicts in a few words the
history of civilization. When man finds himself
in possession of the good things of the world, he
fancies that they are intended for the gratification
of the senses, and plunges headlong into sensuous
enjoyment. But as indulgence in it increases more
and more the craving for it, and brings with such
craving" the torments of unrest, fatigue, disease,
nervous prostration and even insanity, man sees
the folly of carnal-mindedness. Withdrawing his
thoughts from carnality, he endeavors to establish
them on spirituality, and is at last rewarded with
eternal peace.
The course of human progress from worldliness
to godliness — from carnality to spirituality — is
thus beautifully outlined in this little parable,
given in Luke xv, 11-32. "I will arise and go
to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before thee" (ver. 18),
expresses the determination of the soul who has

22 The Spirit of the East and West.
seen the folly of a sensuous life to seek the help of a
spiritual guide and through him attain the Father
of all spirits. "Let us search and try our ways
and turn again to the Lord, ' ' in Lamentations iii,
40, expresses the same truth.
Of Him, our Father, Eastern nations have no
doubt. He is the Boundless Being in whom we all
live and move (Acts, xvii, 28). He is in and out
of us. He is the very basis of all things, even of
the space in which all orbs float. Space itself
floats in a corner of Infinite Being, which is quick
with knowledge all through Itself. It is also able
to do all things, and every form of power, spirit
ual, mental and physical, proceeds from Him. He
is the Father of all nations, who are made of one
blood (Acts xvii, 26), whatever the color of the
skin or type of the face may be, and is therefore
designated in every country as ' ' Our Father. ' '
Since all Power belongeth to Him (Ps. Ixii,
11), it is He who has endowed each soul with a
mind and body and sphere of action, and sense of
pain and pleasure, so as to enable him to see
the real value of life and escape from worldliness
to Godliness. The parable of the talents (Matthew
xxv, 14-34) teaches the truth that our belongings
are God's. The talents are referred to by Jesus
as "goods" belonging to the Master, and souls as
' ' servants. ' ' They were given a choice of occupa
tions, but the duty imposed on them was that they
should work on such work as would produce the
profitable fruits called intellectual cind moral at
tainments. The soul that was given to sloth and
did not obey the command that it should work
profitably is called in verse 26 "slothful and wicked
servant, ' ' and in verse 30 ' ' unprofitable servant. ' '
But the soul who, with a fair share of ability
which had been entrusted to him, made the best
use of his talents in the profession he followed and
multiplied his virtues, was allowed to enter into
"the joy of the Lord," and made "ruler over

The Spirit of the East and West, 23
many things" (v. 23), by which is meant that he
was admitted to the blissfulness of the spiritual
kingdom and given many a worldly blessing also.
' ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all else will
be added unto you" said Jesus in emphatic words
(Matt, vi, 33). In the parable before us, Jesus
declares that the Kingdom of God is the goal of
all endeavor for man, since, even before he was
created, it was the Divine will that industrial
work, effectively and righteously done, should in
due course bring the worker into fellowship with
God. The words of v. 33 are that such souls shall
' ' inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the
foundation of the world."
The parable of the Unjust Steward, given in
Luke xvi, imparts the truth that man is a trustee
of God as regards the resources lent to him for the
purpose of emancipating himself from worldli
ness. A steward who had been entrusted with
large quantities of oil and wheat by a rich man to
be laid out profitably was called to account. The
steward, being idle and vain, said to himself "I
cannot dig, — to beg I am ashamed," and took
measures to conceal his acts of misappropriation
and to save his reputation with men (v. 4). He
cooked up vouchers in support of false entries.
The ]\Iaster is the Lord, the Steward is the Soul.
The Lord smiled at the folly of the Soul caring for
the praises of men and not regarding the forgiv-
ness of God. "The children of this world," says
the Lord, "fancy themselves wiser than the chil
dren of light who prefer honor with God to gooi
repute among men. If it cannot be faithful in the
matter of perishable articles, like stores and
money, which are false riches, how can I trust it
with true riches, or the powers and glories of the
spiritual kingdom? To make a friend of the mam
mon of unrighteousness is to qualify for much
sorrow" (vs. 9-11) ; and Jesus said unto the
Pharisees, who were unrighteous at heart and

24 The Spirit of the East and West,
loved the praises of worldly men, — "Ye are they
which justify yourselves before men, but God
knoweth your hearts : for that which is highly
esteemed among men is abomination in the sight
of God" (v. 15). Those who endeavor to make
money and reputation by unrighteous means have
missed the true goal of life, which is spiritual
happiness or peace.
"The law of the Lord is perfect," said the
Psalmist, — "converting the soul" (xix, 7), that
is to say, the will or design of the Lord, in making
the world and placing the soul in it, is compre
hensively benign, is the consummation of all that
is good, namely, to make the soul pass from world
liness to godliness. This passage or pilgrimage
has to be made in Earthly life. Self-love has to
])e converted into Neighborly Love, and Neigh
borly Love into Perfect Love. Perfect Love is
Love at its full maturity. " Be ye perfect, even as
the Father in heaven is perfect" said Jesus;
and '.t LS possible for every spirit, said St. Paul,
"to attain to the Maturity of the state called
Fullness of Christ," (Eph. iv, 13).
These words maturity and fulness, (in Greek
helikia and pleroma) occurring in Eph. iv, 13, are
of prime importance to every one who is concerned
with "the things of the Spirit" (Rom. viii, 5),
for they call attention to the mysterious fact that
there is a growth of the Spirit, even as there is a
growth of the Body. It is given to all, except the
blind of eye and palsied of touch, to see the body
grow from the stage called infancy to youth, and
from youth to middle age and old age. Each of
these stages manifests its own phase, and the
phase of "old age" or the ripening of the body,
are the wrinkles of the skin, the grey hairs of the
head and the stoop of the shoulders. But the fact
of the Ripening of the Spirit is beyond the ken of
most men. They have not even heard of it.
Nevertheless, Jesus and Paul often spoke of it;

The Spirit of the East and West. 25
and their teaching is identically the same as that
of other Masters in India, namely, that the Soul or
Spirit in man is Love, and that its growth is de
noted by the words Self-Love, Neighborly Love
and Infinite Love.
Paul describes the characteristics of the stage
called Self-Love in 2 Tim. iii, 2-7, which may be
rendered as follows: "In the domestic circle, it
pays no heed to the voice of its natural guardians,
is devoid of affection for those whom it should
love, is unthankful, not willing to oblige, nor easily
pacified. Abroad, it puts on the appearance of
goodness without iDelieving in its virtue, is false in
friendship, given to belittling others^ boastful of
its own deeds, unforgiving, scornful, much in
clined to the pleasures of the senses, easily urged
by external influences and led away by divers de
sires, owing to instability of character. Such a
spirit may be ever learning, but will never know
the Truth," which is God and Christ. (See my
Eastern Exposition of St, John, published by W.
Hutchinson & Co., London, 1902, Preface, vii, and
pp. 94, 106, 178. etc.l. St. Paul explained further
in 1 Cor. ii, 14: "The natural man (or the self-
lover) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned." And in Rom. viii, 5-7, he said, —
* ' They that are after the flesh do mind the things
of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit mind
the things of the Spirit. The carnal mind (or
mind impregnated with self-love) is inimical to
God." The Spirit's next stage of growth is called
Neighborly Love, the distinguishing marks of
which are clearly set forth in the parable of the
Samaritan and the Jew who had fallen among
thieves. It is commonly supposed in the West
that the neighbor is the person who lives near
another person, and dictionarians give as the wid-

26 The Spirit of the East and West.
est meaning of that word, one entitled to the con
sideration due to a neighbor. But Jesus ' meaning
is not corporeal. It does not refer to locality or
body. It refers to that condition of the Spirit
which is helpful to others. As explained in my
Eastern Exposition of St, John, the Spirit who,
"putting aside his own business and all the preva
lent notions of the Jew and Samaritan, went
straight to the fallen man, applied healing oint
ment to the wounds, refreshed the sufferer with
wine, set him on his own beast, brought him to an
inn, nursed him through the night, paid the inn
keeper the charges due, begged him to take care of
the patient till he should return from his business,
and promised to make good all further charges
that might be incurred, is the Neighbor, or Neigh
borly Love. " Another name for it is the Mierciful
Spirit, that is, the Spirit which melts at the dis
tress of others and longs to help them. "Blessed
are the merciful," said Jesus, "for they shall
obtain mercy" (Matt, v, 7). The mercy shown
by God to Spirits who are merciful is tlie gift of
the ability to understand the doctrine of Grace and
Truth, for assuredly when Self-Love grows to be
Neighl)orly-Love, — when the Self-lover grows to be
the Neighbor, — there grows also in him a natural
liking for things spiritual, and a corresponding
dislike of things corporeal.
The third and last stage of spiritual growth is
known as Perfect Love (Matt, v, 48), or Christly
Love, the Love that knows no height, or depth,
length or breadth (Eph. iii, 18), the Love that
makes no difference between friends, neighbors and
enemies, but loves them all equally, doing good
to all, even to those who hate it and despitefuUy
use it (Matt, v, 35-44). This indeed is the Ful
ness of Love, called by Hebrew Sages Pleroma
and by Indian Sages Atma-puranam, the Love
that sees all round everywhere, and takes a most
comprehensive, most loving and most practical

The Spirit of the East aud West. 27
view of the situations of life. It is not misled by
appearances, having the gift of seeing the core or
substance of every question.
These great facts of the real existence of the
Spirit in the Body and the practicability of gradu
ally ripening the Soul from the stage of Self-Love
to Neighborly Love, and from Neighborly Love to
Perfect Love, are fully recognized in India all
through the different gradations of society. The
Sages of India and Judaea alike have proclaimed
the necessity of rearing the Spirit with the utmost
care. It should be the greatest ivork of life on
Earth. The Spirit is like a flame that should be
protected against wind-currents, and fed with oil
everj" day. Sensualism and emotionalism, irrev
erence and frivolity, are the breezes that quench
the Spirit (1 Thes. v, 19) and leave only a smok
ing flax (Isa. xiii, 3) ; and the work of quenching
will be all the sooner effected by idleness and too
much slee]). The oil that keeps alive the Spirit is
sound doctrine and wakefulness against error and
sin. "The cares of this world and the deceitful-
ness of riches, as also the lusts of other things,
choke the word," .said Jesus (Mark iv, 19). The
cares of the world are the engagements of world[y
life which must be attended to, but the West does
not know how to fulfill these ivithout being en
tangled in them or drowned in the vortex of sor
row. To one who is devoted to the art of nursing
the spirit, by not allowing it to be quenched by the
breezes of corruption, non-entanglement is easy.
"No man," said St. Paul, " that warreth against
corruption entangleth himself with the affairs of
this life," (Tim. ii, 4). The hearing and under
standing of sound doctrine, or the doctrine that
heals the soul of its worldliness, enables one to
perceive that all flesh is as grass, and all the cor
poreal glory of man is as the flower of grfss.
" The grass withereth and the flower thereof
falleth away" (1 Pet. i, 24).

28 The Spirit of the East and West.
In the performance of the duties of life, whether
as husband, father, friend or citizen, it is wise to
be detached from things that are likely to perish,
and to work for the spiritual welfare of oneself
and of those around oneself. It is most necessary
to be watchful of the seductions of wealth. Num
berless are the men who have been beguiled and
ruined through the possession of well furnished
houses, gaudy jewels and carriages, country seats
and other facilities for sensuous enjoyment,
which are barriers to "quiet meditation, and which
are therefore said to "choke the word of God"
relating to the things of the Spirit. To be in the
world, one need not be of the world. If the trans
actions of life are carried on with loving spirit,
attentive mind and effective hand, but without
entanglement, there will be no fear of the clear
flame of the Spirit being converted into a smoking
flax (Isaiah, xiii, 3).
Space will not allow of enlarging further
upon other main currents of thought which work
silently in India under aH the engagements of
worldly life. The Spirit of the East is alive unto
God, and thinks not too highly of the world that is
changing, decaying and perishing, even as we are
looking on. It does indeed adorn a home, engage
in industrial arts, and produce things beautiful
to behold, such as marble palaces and all other
luxuries which go to make up great cities, but
it never forgets that, like the birth and death of
¦each day, the things made of earth and flesh will
also soon pass away. It is therefore a duty it
owes to itself, and the Living God whom it serves,
not to allow the treasures of the world, which
moth and rust doth corrupt (Matt, vi, 19), to
multiply themselves beyond a certain limit and
deceive man unto perdition. It is deeply relig
ious. It recognizes as a fact clearer than the noon
day sun that the Lord reigneth throughout the
universe (Psalms xciii, 1) ; that he is above all.

The Spirit of the East and West. 29
through all and in all (Eph. iv, 6) ; that he made
the world as a training ground for the soul, is
Creator, and faints not in His work of mercy (Is.
XV, 88) ; that his work of mercy is teaching the
soul how to be free from corruption; that He is
the one and only Teacher of all spirits and all
nations, the Teacher of Truth and Illuminer of
every understanding; that He is Light (1 John, i,
5) and Love {ib, iv, 8) ; that He teaches man by
the great Spiritual power known as Law, which is
unto man a real school-master, able to wring obedi
ence to it by its minister known as Government,
and to develop in him the love of Justice; that
God teaches also by other agencies imbued with
love, namely, by parents at home, by teachers at
school, by teachers of occupations, by teachers of
religion, known as pastors, by evangelists, who are
the disciples of the Apostles, and lastly and most
gloriously by Apostles of God, who quench not the
smoking flax, but bring out of it discernment unto
truth (Isa. xvii, 3), a veritable beacon of light
and love, a thing of beauty and joy forever ; that
God is the chastener of the soul (Heb. xii, 9), a
dispeller of fears and sorrows, and the strength-
ener of all who appeal to Him in abiding faith,
who ever in mercy says ' ' Fear thou not, for I am
with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am thy God ; T
will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee, yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand of my right
eousness" (Is. xii, 10). The Spirit of the East
also recognizes and feels most assuredly that the
Soul is the principal part of man ; that the help
mate of the Soul is the mind ; that the collectors of
worldly information for the Mind are the Senses ;
that the Mind and the Senses are maintained
in strength for their respective work by other
subtle helpers, such as the Digester of food, the
Distributor of the food-essence to all the mem
bers of the body, etc. ; that the mud-house of the
Soul and its subtle helpmates is the body that

30 The Spirit of the East and West.
falls off at death and becomes food for worms;
that therefore the affections should not be cen
tered on the body ; that the Mind should be with
drawn as much as possible from the things of the
body and established on the things of the Spirit,
the Son of God, for whose benefit the body and
the world was made; and that it is worse than
madness, suicidal, to miss the opportunity of a
life-time in gathering and polishing up worldly
treasures, like unto chaff. The Spirit of the East is
further fully persuaded that the Soul has a growth
in light and love, and that it must be carefully
nursed in every possible way from day to day,
and with watchfulness all through the day; that
it is good for a man that he bears the yoke of Soul-
culture in his youth (Lamentations, iii, 27) ; that
this Culture of the Soul begins by first sharpening
and refining the instruments of culture, namely,
the ]\rind and Senses, under the instruction of par
ents, teachers and pastors, secondly by abiding in
the law and gnthorine restful guidance and
strength for work, thirdly by active work in the
world in various ways, such as industrial occupa
tions, charitable work and work in and for the
Church, and lastly by imbibing sound doctrine
from the living lips of evangelists and apostles of
God. Knowing as the East does these great truths, it
is able to say without hesitation that the high
ideals and ethical conduct needed for ripening the
Spirit from Self Love to Neighborly Love and
Neighborly Love to Perfect Love constitute Soul-
culture or Civilization; and that the Mind (reason
and will), if set to work on the things of the world,
may produce articles of trade, money, flourish-
ins- homes and lofty cities, but can never produce
righteousness. Love of God or Peace, unless it be
united with the Spirit and made to mind the things
of the Spirit. In these circumstances, no Civiliza
tion is complete without its material and spiritual

The Spirit of the East and West. 31
planes. It will lack symmetry if one outgrows the
other. A constant careering of the Mind in the
path of bodily necessities and luxuries renders it
imfit for the development of spirituality. The
gracious Bhagavan said (in the Bhagavad Gita
vi,5),— "The work of uplifting the Spirit {dtma uddhd-
rana) from corruption and its entanglements has
to be done by the Mind.
"Since Mind only is the ally of the Spirit, and
Mind only the enemy of the Spirit, the Mind
should not be made impure by letting it run on
sensuous planes."
A Mind that capers about in the broad ways
of the senses and turns needlessly on its' own
axis becomes quite unfit for the edification of the
Spirit. It cannot build it up in love and light. It
cannot understand the Word of God, called the
Jndna Shastras in India, much less convey their
intended meaning to the Spirit, so that the Spirit
is obliged to continue in Darkness, that is, materi
alism or worldliness. A Civilization that is with
out its full complement of spiritual mindedness
may produce clever men and women, willing to do
what is proper and right, but they will be unable
to resist temptation when it comes associated with
the chance of not being found out by others. The
materialized mind, known of old as carnal-minded
ness, however able to perform the ordinary duties
of life before the gaze of the ptiblic, will fre
quently go wrong and even persist in error, if it
be sure that its vagaries will remain undetected.
In its sight, crime or sin is neither wrong-doing
nor estrangement from God, but allowing oneself
to be detected in wickedness or impiety. The
inner purity of the Individual is not so much the
concern of the votaries of material civilization as
that Society should not have to talk about the
latest scandal. Exposure is the one great offence
known to material civilization. To endeavor to

32 The Spirit of the East and West.
keep up the appearance of being good and well off
is the end and aim of deadly respectability, of
"whited sepulchres." Any civilization which does
not crave for the spiritual growth of the individ
ual, for the active development in each person of
Loving Kindness and Knowledge of God, is on the
high road of Sensuousness, doomed to become a
' ' smoking flax, ' ' a thing of lurid vanity.
The Civilization of India has endured, — has
endured so long as to be styled "stationary"^ —
because of its equipoise between materiality and
spirituality. The authors of that civilization
were great Jndnis, sanctified spirits, who knew
human nature in its entirety, and the worldly and
spiritual needs of men ushered into life on the
soil of India. The industrial arts and popular
amusements of the Hindus have not been allowed
to run riot, so as to quench the Spirit, but have
been developed sufficiently to answer the ends of
beauty and comfort, and leave enough time to cul
tivate the fruits of the Spirit and worship God in
peace, every day in all earnestness. Owing to this
equilibrium between the material and spiritual
sides of civilization being carefully maintained up
to the present time by generations of Sages, the
teeming millions of souls who inhabit the Land of
Light {Jndna bhumi), now known as India, has the
singular privilege of surviving all other nations
of the world and maintaining almost intact the
traditionary ideals and practices of their pious
ancestors. I say ^'almost intact," because the in
flux of Western modes of thought, which cultured
men of the West condemn as Materialism and
Agnosticism, has, during the last two or three
decades, begun to lead astray the youth of the
country who have flocked into English Colleges
and trade centres for learning the novel principles
of money-making under competition, even at the
hazard of their Souls.

THE WORKS OF SAME AUTHOR
ALREADY PUBLISHED.

An Eastern Exiposition of the Gospel of Jesus ac
cording to St. John, being • an Interpretation
thereof by the light of Jndna Yoga. $2.
A Commentary on St. Matthew in terms of Godly
Experience (or Jndna Yoga), » $2.

IN PREPARATION.
I. Soul Culture among Western Nations. Being the
substance of the lectures delivered before the
Monsalvat School for thej(Study of IComparativQ
Religions, at Green Acre, Eliot, Me., U. S. A.,
in August, 1905.
2. An Exposition of the Psalms of David (i-xxx)
according to Jndna Yoga,
3. Lectures on the Sermon on the Mount.
4. Lectures on the Doctrine of the Resurrection of
the Dead, being a Commentary on the XVth
Chapter of the First Epistle of St. Paul to the
Corinthians.
5. A Translation and Commentary on the Bhagavad
Gita.
6. Phenomena in Spiritual Being: which is the Au
thor's Commentary on his translation of the
famous Veddnta work in Tamil entitled, Ndnd
Jiva Vdda Kattalai,

Apply to

The Institute of Soul Culture,
Bloomfield, Old Bridge, N. J.
The Vedanta University,
2115, California Avenue, Washington, D. C.
The Theosophical Society,
244, Lenox Avenue, New York City.
The Metaphysical Club,
Huntingdon Chambers, Boston, Mass.