f, TOLSTOY' TOE OF LIFE TEACHING m AND WISDOM L. N. TOLSTOY IN 1908 RUSSIAN AUTHORS' LIBRARY LEO TOLSTOY THE PATHWAY OF LIFE TRANSLATED BY ARCHIBALD J. WOLFE PARvT 1 NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL BOOK PUBLISHING COMPANY 1919 COPYRIGHT. 1911 TO WOODROW WILSON-THE PEACEMAKER RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE PUBLISHERS 2031641 PUBLISHERS* PREFACE "THE PATHWAY OF LIFE" is Tolstoy's post- humous message to an erring and suffering world. Never since the days when Christ's message from Heaven brought life and comfort to a war-torn, sinful and suffering world, has mankind been so eager and ripe for a gospel of right living and right thinking as it is to-day, emerg- ing from the titanic struggle which has so deeply stirred its passions and emotions. Communing with the minds of the great thinkers and teachers of all ages, Tolstoy in the course of his epic career gathered the pearls of wisdom from the spiritual treas- uries of many races and many periods in the history of mankind. These lofty thoughts relating to the spiritual aspirations, the temporal requirements and the moral con- duct of man, Tolstoy retold in his own language, ar- ranging them under suitable captions, and interspersing them with the expressions of his own attitude to the prob- lems of life. The resulting monumental work is for the first time presented to mankind in these two volumes. Any new presentation of Tolstoy's work commands the respect- ful attention of the world. But there is healing of wounds and divine inspiration in "THE PATHWAY OF LIFE" that lend it the added preciousness of significant timeliness. Filled with the yearning to help his fellow-man strug- gling against sin, error, superstition and temptation, the sage labored on this compilation down to his last days, reverting to this labor of love even after the distressing fainting spells that preceded his decease, until, very shortly before his death, in "THE PATHWAY OF LIFE," he succeeded in collating the consensus of human wisdom and genius of all lands and all ages into a modern gospel that bears the self-evident impress of divine truth and im- mortality. The publishers reverently offer this work of Tolstoy to thinking humanity. TRANSLATOR'S NOTE Not by way of apology, but by way of explanation, and for the reader's better understanding, the translator feels justified in forsaking for a moment the position of inobtrusive retirement which is characteristic of good translating and supplementing the publisher's preface with a note of his own. The collection of thoughts on the spiritual problems of life offered in these volumes contains much material that was obviously not intended by the author for pub- lication in its present form. The general arrangement, the sub-headings and all unsigned paragraphs and essays are Tolstoy's own. Many extracts appear to be credited to philosophers and sages of various tongues and periods, but in rendering these into the Russian language Tolstoy followed the original somewhat vaguely, interpreting the idea rather- than translating word for Wx>rd so that in re- translation the wording frequently does not accurately coincide with the original, and the names following these extracts may be taken to indicate their source merely rather than their literal authorship in every instance. Here and there the reader will find cruuities in ex- pression and even in phrasing. These may be inten- tional, for Tolstoy loved to use rough-hewn speech in con- veying plain ideas, just as he was plain in personal attire and mode of life; or the crudities may be due to the fragmentary nature of some of the material, the editors having included many memoranda and jottings that the author had no opportunity to go over and revise. The translator feels content to have resisted the temptation of retouching with a profane brush these slight imperfections that can not mar the grandeur of a temple to him who views it as a whole. In conclusion a grateful acknowledgment is made of the helpful suggestions offered by Dorothy Brewster, Ph. D., who read the manuscript in the translation. ARCHIBALD J. WOLFE. AUTHOR'S FOREWORD The sayings in these volumes are of varied authorship, having been gathered from Brahminical, Confucian and Buddhist sources, from the Gospels and the Epistles, and from the works of numerous, thinkers both ancient and modern. The greater part of these sayings have suffered aome alteration in form either as translated or as re-stated by me, and it is therefore hardly convenient to print them over the signatures of their original authors. The best of these unsigned sayings have their source in the minds of the foremost sages of the world and are not my authorship. TOLSTOY. CONTENTS VOL. I. Faith 15 God 29 The Soul v . 45 There is One Soul in All 63 Love 77 Sins, Errors and Superstitions 97 Surfeit 113 Sexual Lusts 127 Sloth 143 Covetousness 159 Anger 173 Pride 189 Inequality 199 Force 213 Punishment 235 Vanity 253 False Religions 267 False Science . . 283 FAITH FAITH In order to live right, man must know what he ought to do, and what he ought not to do. In order to know this, he needs faith. Faith is the knowledge of what man is, and for what purpose he lives with the world. And such is the faith which has been and is held by all rational people. I. What is the True Faith? 1. In order to live right, it is needful to understand what life is, as well as what to do and what not to do in this life. These things have been taught at all times by the wisest and best living men of all races. The teachings of all these wise men, in the main, agree as one. This one doc- trine common to all people as to what is the life of man, and how to live it, is the true faith. 2. What is this world which has no limits in any direction, the beginning and the end of which are alike un- known to me, and what is my life in this infinite world, and how must I live it? Faith alone can answer these questions. 3. True religion is to know that law which is above all human laws, and which is the one law for all the people in the world. 4. There may be many false faiths, but there is only one true faith. Kant. 5. If you doubt your faith, it is no longer faith. Faith is only then a true faith, when you do not even harbor a thought that what you believe could be untrue. 6. There are two faiths : one being confidence in what is said by people this is faith in a man or in people ; such faiths are many and varied. 16 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE And there is the faith in my dependence on Him who sent me into this world. This is faith in God, and such faith is one for all people. II. The Doctrine of True Faith is Always Clear and Simple 1. To have faith is to trust in what is being revealed to us, without asking why it is so, and what will come out of it. Such is the true faith. It shows us what we are, and what we ought to do because of it, but it does not tell us what will be the outcome if we do that which our faith commands us to do. If I have faith in God, I need not ask what will be the outcome of my obedience to God, because I know that God is love, and nothing can come from love but what is good. 2. The true law of life is so simple, clear and intel- ligible that men cannot seek to excuse their evil life by pleading ignorance of the law. If people live contrary to the law of true life, there is only one thing left for them to do: to abjure their reason. And this is exactly what they do. 3. Some say that the fulfilment of the law of God is difficult. This is not true. The law of life asks nothing of us but to love our neighbor. And to love is not difficult, but pleasant. Scovoroda. 4. When a man conies to know the true faith, he is like unto a man lighting a lamp in a dark chamber. All things become clear, and joy enters his soul. III. True Faith is to Love God and Your Neighbor 1. "Love one another, even as I have loved you, thus shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 17 love one to another," said Christ. He did not say : "If you believe this or that," but "if you have love." Faith with different people, and in different times, may differ, but love is one and the same at all times and with all people. 2. The true faith is one to love all that is living. Ibrahim of Cordova. 3. Love bestows blessedness on people because it unites man with God. 4. Christ revealed to men that the eternal is not identical with the future, but that the eternal, the unseen, dwells within us right now, in this life, and that we attain eternal life when we become one with God, the Spirit in whom all things move and have their being. We can attain this eternal life through love alone. IV. Faith Guides the Life of Man 1. Only he truly knows the law of life who does that which he regards as the law of life. 2. All faith is merely a reply to this question : how must I live in the world not before men, but before Him who sent me into the world? 3. In the true faith it is not important to be able to talk interestingly about God, about the soul, about the past or the future, but one thing alone is essential : to know firm- ly what you ought to do and what you ought not to do in this life. Kant. 4. If a man does not live happily, it is only because such a man has no faith. This may be the case with entire nations. If a nation does not live happily, it is only because the nation has lost its faith. 18 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 5. The life of man is good or evil only as he under- stands the true law of life. The more clearly man under- stands the true law of life, the better is his life; the more hazy is his understanding of that law, the worse is his life. 6. In order to escape from that mire of sin, vice and misery wherein they live, people have need of one thing alone : they need a faith in which they would live, not as now each for himself but a common life, all acknowl- edging one law and one purpose. Only then might people repeating the words of the Lord's Prayer : "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven," hope that the Kingdom of God will indeed descend upon earth. Mazsini. 7. If any faith teaches that we must give up this life for life everlasting, it is a false faith. To give up this life for life everlasting is impossible, because eternal life is already in this life. Hindu Philosophy. 8. The stronger the faith of man, the firmer his life. The life of man without faith is the life of a beast. V. False Faith 1. The law of life, namely to love God and your neigh- bor, is simple and clear. Every man on attaining reason recognizes it in his heart. Therefore, if it were not for false teachings, all men would adhere to this law, and the Kingdom of Heaven would reign upon earth. But false teachers, at all times and in all places, taught men to acknowledge as God that which was not God, and as God's law that which was not God's law. And men believed in these false teachings and departed from the true law of THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 19 life and from the fulfilment of His true law, and this made their life harder to bear and more unhappy. Therefore one must not believe any teachings that do not agree with love of God and of your neighbor. 2. It must not be thought that because a faith is ancient, it is therefore true. On the contrary, the longer people live, the more clearly they grasp the true law of life. To think that in our times we must believe in the same things in which our grandfathers and our great-grandfathers had believed is to think that when you are grown to man's estate, the garments of your children still might fit you. 3. We are perturbed because we can no longer believe in that in which our fathers used to believe. We must not let this perturb us, but try instead to establish within us such a faith in which we can believe as firmly as our fathers believed in their faith. Martineau. 4. In order to know the true faith, man must first for a season give up that faith in which he had blindly believed, and then examine in the light of his reason all that which he had been taught since childhood. 5. A laborer who dwelt in the city was proceeding homeward one day after his work was done. As he was leaving his place of employment he met a stranger, and the stranger said: "Let us go together, we are bound for the same place, and I know the road well." The laborer believed him, and they departed together. They had walked for an hour or more, when the laborer noticed that the road was different from the one he was in the habit of taking into the city. And he said: "I think this is not the right road." And the stranger replied : "This is the only true and the shortest road. Be- lieve me, for I know it well." The laborer believed him and continued to follow him. But the further he went, 20 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE the worse the road proved to be, and the more difficult the walking. And he was compelled to spend all his earn- ings to sustain himself, and still failed to reach home. Yet the further he walked, the more firmly he believed that he was on the right road, and finally he was convinced himself that it was so. And the reason why he became so convinced was because he did not like to turn back, and always hoped that the road would finally take him to his destination. And he strayed a long, long way from home, and was wretched for a long time. Thus it is with people who do not listen to the voice of the spirit within themselves, but listen to the voice of strangers regarding God and His law. 6. It is bad not to know God, but it is worse to ac- knowledge as God that which is not God. VI. External Worship 1. True faith is to believe in that ^ne law which befits all the people in the world. 2. True faith enters the heart in stillness and solitude only. 3. True faith consists in living always a good life, loving all men, doing unto others as you would have others do unto you. This, indeed, is the true faith. And this is the faith that all truly wi.^e men and men of saintly life have always taught among all nations. 4. Jesus did not say to the Samaritans: Leave your beliefs for those of the Jews. He did not say to the Jews : Join the Samaritans. But he said to the Jews and to the Samaritans : You are alike in error. Not Garistm, nor yet Jerusalem avails anything. The time will come, THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 21 nay, has already come, when men will worship the Fathar neither in Garisim nor yet in Jerusalem, but true worship- pers will worship the Father in spirit and in the truth, for such are the worshippers whom the Father seeketh. Jesus was seeking such worshippers in the days of Jerusalem. He is seeking them still in these days. 5. A master had a laborer. The same lived in his master's house and saw the master face to face many times each day. The laborer little by little neglected his labors, and finally grew so lazy that he would do nothing at all. The master noticed this but said nothing and merely turned his face from him whenever he met him. The laborer saw that his master was not satisfied with him, and planned to regain his master's favor without laboring. He sought out his master's friends and acquaintances and begged them to intercede with the master so that he should no longer be angry with him. The Master learned of this, and calling the laborer said: "Why do you ask people to intercede for you? You have me always with you and you can tell me face to face whatever is needful." But the laborer did not know what to say and departed. And he conceived a new plan : he gathered eggs belonging to his master, caught one of his master's fowls, and took them to him as a present to avert his wrath. And the master said: "First you ask my friends to plead for you, although you can freely speak to me for yourself. Then you mean to propitiate me with presents. But all that you have is mine already. Even if you brought me what is truly yours, I require no presents." Thereupon the laborer adopted a new scheme : he composed verses in his master's honor and standing outside his master's window loudly shouted and sang his verses, calling his master's great, r.mnipresent, all-powerful father, merciful benefactor. 22 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE Then the master summoned the laborer again and said : "You once attempted to please me through others, then brought me gifts of what was my own, and now you have a still more ridiculous plan : you shout and sing concern- ing me, saying that I am all-powerful, merciful, this and that. You sing and you shout about me, but you do not know me, neither do you seem to want to know me. I need not the pleas of others in your behalf, nor your gifts, nor your praises regarding things you cannot know ; all I need of you is your labor." All God requires of us is good works. Therein is the entire law of God. VII. The Idea of a Reward for a Good Life is Foreign to True Faith If a man adheres to a religion merely because he ex- pects all sorts of external future rewards for the fulfilment of the works of his religion, this is not faith, but calcula- tion, and in all cases an erroneous calculation. It is an erroneous calculation, because true faith yields its blessings only in the present, but does not, cannot give any external blessings in the future. A man set forth to hire himself out as a laborer. And he met two stewards seeking to hire laborers. He told them that he was seeking work. And the two began to in- vite him each to labor for his master. One said : "Come to my master, for his is a good place. Of course, if you do not please him, he will thrash you and place you in prison ; but if you do please him, you cannot have a better life. When your labor is ended, you will live without toiling, enjoying an endless feast with wine, fine meats and entertainments. Only try to please the master, and THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 23 your life will be too wonderful for description." Thus pleaded one of the stewards. The other steward also invited him to work for his master, but did not tell him how his master would reward him; he did not even mention where and how the laborer would live, whether the task was hard or light, but only stated that his master was good, inflicting no punishments, and that he lived together with his own hired laborers. And the man thought thus of the first master: "He promises a little too much. In fairness there is no need to promise so much. Tempted by the promise of a life of pleasure, I might find myself very poorly off. And the master, doubtless, is very stern, for he punishes severely those who fail to do as he says. I think I will rather go to the second master, for although he promises nothing, they say he is kind and lives in common with his laborers." The same is true of religious teachings. Some teach- ers beguile men into good living by terrifying them with threats of punishment and deceiving them with promises of rewards in another world which no one has ever seen. Other teachers teach that love, the principle of life, dwells in the souls of men, and he who unites with it is happy. 3. If you serve God for the sake of bliss everlasting, you do not serve God, but serve your own ends. 4. The principal difference between true and false faith is this: In false faith man desires God to reward him for his sacrifices and prayers. In the true faith man seeks one thing alone : To learn how to please God. VIII. Reason Verifies the Principles of Faith 1. In order to know the true faith, it is not necessary to suppress the voice of reason, but on the contrary, reason 24 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE must be purified and exerted in order that we may examine by it that which is taught by teachers of religion. 2. It is not by reason that we attain faith. But reason is necessary to examine the faith that is taught us. 3. Do not fear to eliminate from your faith all that is superfluous, carnal, visible, amenable to senses, as well as all that is confused and lacking in clearness; the better you purify the spiritual kernel, the more clearly will you grasp the true law of life. 4. Not he is an unbeliever who does not believe all that the people around him believe, but he is truly an un- believer who thinks and affirms that he believes something which in reality he does not believe. IX. The Religious Consciousness of People Strives Constantly After Perfection 1. We must benefit by the teachings of the wise and holy men of old regarding the law of life, but we must examine them by our own reason, accepting all that is in accord with reason, rejecting all that is in conflict therewith. 2. If, in order not to stray from the law of God, man hesitates to leave the faith once adopted by him, he is like unto a man who bound himself with a rope to a post so that he should not lose his way. Lucy Mallory. 3. It is strange that the majority of people believe most firmly in the most ancient religious teachings, which no longer are suitable to our time, but reject all new teachings as superfluous and harmful. Such men forget that if God revealed the truth to the ancients, He still re- mains the same and can also reveal it to men who lived in latter times and to those who live to-day. Thoreau. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 25 4. The law of life cannot change, but people can grasp it more and more clearly, and learn how to fulfill it in life. 5. Religion is not true for the reason that holy men have preached it, but holy men have preached it for the reason that it is true. Lessing. 6. When rain-water flows from the roof-gutter, it seems to us as though it came from it. But rain, indeea, falleth from above. Even so with the teachings of wise men and holy: We think that the teachings come from them, but they proceed from God. From Rama-Krishna. GOD GOD Besides all that is corporeal within us, and in the en- tire universe, we know something incorporeal which gives life to our body and is connected with it. This incorporeal something, connected with our body, we call our soul. The same incorporeal something, but not connected with any- thing, and giving life to everything that lives, we call God. I. God is Known of Man From Within 1. The foundation of all faith is in the fact that in addition to what we see and feel in our bodies and in the bodies of other creatures, there is something else that is invisible, incorporeal, yet giving life to us and to every- thing that is visible and corporeal. 2. I know that there is something within me without which there would be nothing. This is what I call God. Angelus. 3. Every man meditating on what he is can not help seeing that he is not all, but a specific separate part of something. And having grasped it, man usually thinks that this something from which he is separated is that ma- terial world, which he sees, that earth whereon he lives and whereon his ancestors lived before him, that sky, those stars and that sun which he sees. But if a man gives this subject a little more thought or discovers that the wise men of this world have thought about it, he must realize that the SOMETHING from which men feel themselves separated is not the material world which extends in every direction in space, and also without end in time, but is something else. If a man medi- tates more deeply on this subject, and learns what the wise 30 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE men have always believed regarding it, he must realize that the material world which had no beginning and will have no end and which neither has nor can have any limits in space, is not anything real, but is only a dream of ours, and therefore that SOMETHING from which we feel our- selves separated, is something that has neither beginning nor end in time or in space, but is something immaterial, something spiritual. This spiritual something which man acknowledges as his beginning, is the very thing which all the wise men have always called and still are calling God. 4. To know God is possible only within oneself. Until you find God within yourself, you will nowhere find him. There is no God for him who cannot find Him within himself. 5. I know within me a spiritual being which is apart from everything else. I equally know the same spiritual being, apart from everything else, in other people. But if I know this spiritual being within myself and in others, it can not but exist within itself. This spiritual being within itself we call God. 6. It is not you who Hive; what you call yourself, is dead. That which animates you is God. Angelus. 7. Do not think that you can earn merit with God by works; all works are as nothing before God. It is needful not to earn merit before God, but to be God. Angelus. 8. If we did not see with our eyes, hear with our ears and touch with our fingers, we could know nothing of what is around us. And if we did not know God within our- selves, we should not know ourselves, we should not know that within ourselves which sees, hears and touches the world around us. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 31 9. He who does not know how to become a son of God, will for ever remain on the plane of the animal. Angelus. 10. If I live a wordly life, I can do without God. But if I only give thought to what I am, where I came from, when I was born, where I will go when I die, I must admit that there is something from which I sprang and to which I am going. I can not deny that I came into this world from something that is incomprehensible to me, and that I am going to something equally incomprehensible to me. This incomprehensible something from which I ccme and to which I am going, I call God. 11. They say that God is Love, or that Love is God. They say also that God is Reason, or that Reason is God. Neither is strictly true. Love and Reason are those char- acteristics of God which we recognize within ourselves, but what He is within Himself we can not know. 12. It is well to fear God, but it is better to love Him. But best of all it is to resurrect Him within. Angelus. 13. Man must love, but one can truly love only that in which there is no evil. And there is only one Being in whom there is no evil : namely God. 14. If God did not love Himself in you, you could never love yourself, God or your neighbor. Angelus. 15. Though men differ as to what is God, none the less all who believe in God, always agree as to what God wants of them. 16. God loves solitude. He will enter your heart when He may be there alone, when you think of Him, and of 'm only. Angelus. 32 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 17. The Arabs have a tale about Moses. Wandering in the desert Moses heard a shepherd praying to God. And this is how the shepherd prayed : "God, oh, that I could meet Thee face to face and become Thy servant! With what joy would I wash Thy feet, kiss them, put sandals upon them, comb Thy hair, wash Thy raiment, care for Thy dwelling, bring Thee of the milk of my herd. My heart is longing for Thee." And Moses hearing these words of the shepberd was angry and said: "Thou blasphemer! God has no body. He needs no raiment, nor dwelling, nor the care of servants. Thy words are evil." And the shep- herd was saddened. He could not imagine God without body and without bodily needs, and being unable to pray to God and to serve Him as he ought, he fell into despair. Then God said unto Moses: "Why didst Thou turn away from Me my faithful servant? Each man has his own thoughts and his own words. What is good for one, is evil for another. What is poison to thee, may be even as sweet honey to another. Words mean nothing. I see the heart of him who turns to Me." 18. Men speak of God in various ways, but feel and understand Him in the same way. 19. Man can not help believing in God any more than he can help walking on two feet. This belief may assume different forms, it may be suppressed altogether, but with- out his belief he can not understand himself. Lichtenberg. 20. Though man may not know that he is breathing air, he knows when he is suffocating that he lacks some- thing without which he can not live. The same is true of the man who has lost God, although he may not know from what he is suffering. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 33 II. A Rational Man is Bound to Acknowledge God 1. Some say of God that He dwells in heaven. It is also said that He dwells in man. Both statements are true : He is in heaven, that is, in the limitless universe, and He is also in the soul of man. 2. Sensing the existence within his own individual body of a spiritual and indivisible being namely God, and seeing the same God in everything that is living, man asks himself: why has God, a spiritual being one and indivisible, confined Himself within individual bodies of creatures, mine and others? Why has a spiritual being, a Unity, divided itself, as it were, within itself? Why has the spir- itual and indivisible become separate and corporeal? Why has the immortal allied itself with the mortal? And only that man can answer these questions who ful- fills the will of Him who has sent him into this world. "All this is done for the sake of my blessedness," such a man can say, "I thank Him and ask no more questions." 3. That which we call God we see both in the heavens and in every man. On a wintry night, if you gaze upon the sky and see stars upon stars, and without end, and consider that many of these stars are very much larger than this earth of ours whereon we live, and that behind the stars which we see there are hundreds, thousands, millions of stars as large and larger even, and that there is no end to the stars and the heavens, you must realize that there is something which you can not grasp. But if we look within our own self, and sense there that which we call our soul, when we see within our own self something that we likewise fail to grasp, but something which we know more assuredly than anything else, and 34 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE through which we know all that is, then we see even in our own soul something still more incomprehensible, something still greater than that which we see in the heavens. That which we see in the heavens and sense within our own soul is the very thing we call God. 4. At all times and among all peoples there has been a belief in some invisible power sustaining the world. The ancients called it universal reason, nature, life, eternity; Christians call it Spirit, Father, Lord, Reason, Truth. The visible, changeable world is like a shadow of this power. As God is eternal, so is the visible world, His shadow, eternal. But the visible world is merely the shadow. Only the invisible power God truly exists. Scovoroda. 5. There is a being without whom neither heaven, nor earth could exist. This being is serene and incorporeal, his characteristics we call love and reason, but the being itself has no name. It is infinitely remote and infinitely near. Lao-Tse. 6. A man was asked how he knew that there is a God. He answered : "Does one need a candle to see the sunrise ?" 7. If a man counts himself great, it is a proof that he does not look upon things from the height of God. Angelus. 8. One may give no thought to the world which is in- finite in all directions, or to the soul that is conscious of itself ; but if one only gives a little thought to these matters, one can not help acknowledging that which we call God. 9. There is a girl in America, born deaf, dumb and THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 35 blind. She was taught to read and write by the sense of touch. Her teacher was telling her about God, and the child remarked that she had always known about it, but did not know how to call it. III. The Will of God 1. We know God less by our reason than by a feeling akin to that of an infant in his' mother's arms. The infant does not know who is holding him, keeping him warm, feeding him, but knows that someone is doing it, and moreover he not only knows that one, in whose power he is, but loves her. Even so it is with man. 2. The more a man fulfills the will of God, the better he knows Him. If a man fails altogether to fulfill the will of God, he does not know Him at all, though he might affirm that he knew Him or pray to Him. 3. Even as you must come closer to a thing in order to know it, so you may know God only if you draw nigh unto Him. And to draw nigh unto God it is possible only by good works. And the more a man accustoms himself to live a good life, the more closely he will know God. And the better he knows God, the better he will love his fellow- men. One thing leads to the other. 4. We can not know God. Only this we can know about Him: His law and His will, as related to us in the New Testament. Knowing His law, we draw the conclu- sion that He exists, who has given the law, but we can not know the lawgiver Himself. We only truly know that we must fulfill the Godgiven law in our own life, and that our life becomes better to the extent that we fulfill His law. 5. Man can not help feeling that something is being 36 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE done with his life, that he is someone's instrument. And if he is someone's instrument, there is someone who is work- ing with this instrument. And this someone is God. 6. It is astonishing how I formerly failed to recognize this simple truth that back of this world and the life we are living in it there is Something, there is Someone who knows why this world exists, and why we are in it like bubbles rising to the surface in boiling water, bursting and disappearing. Yes, something is being done in this world, something is being done with all these living creatures, something is being done with me, with my life. Otherwise, why this sun, these springs, these winters? Why these sufferings, births, deaths, benefactions, crimes, why all these individual creatures who apparently have no meaning for me, and yet live their lives to the utmost, guarding their lives so strenu- ously, creatures in whose hearts tfre passion to live is so strongly intrenched? The lives of these creatures convince me more than anything else that all these things are neces- sary for some purpose, and that this purpose is rational and good, but is incomprehensible to me. 7. My spiritual "I" is no kinsman to my body, there- fore it is in my body not of its own volition, but in ac- cordance with some higher will. This higher will is what we understand as God and call God. 8. God is neither to be worshipped, nor praised. One can only be silent about Him and serve Him. Angelus. 9. As long as a man sings and shouts and repeats in the presence of others: "Lord, Lord," know that he has not found God. He who has found Him maintains silence. Rama-Krishna. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 37 10. In evil movements one does not feel God, one doubts Him. And salvation is always in one thing alone and it is sure: cease to think about God, but think of His law only and fulfill it, love all men, and doubts will vanish, and you will find God again. IV. God Can Not Be Known By Reason 1. It is possible, and it is easy to feel God in oneself. But to know God as He is, is impossible and unnecessary. 2. It is impossible to recognize by reason that there is a God and that there is a soul in man. It is equally impos- sible to know by reason that there is no God or that there is no soul. Pascal. 3. Why am I separated from all else, and why do I know that all that exists from which I am separated, and why can I not understand what this All is? Why is my "I" forever undergoing a change? I cannot understand it at all. But I can not help thinking that there is a meaning in it all, I can not help thinking that there is a being to whom all this is clear, who knows why it is all so. 4. Every man may feel God, but no one may know Him. For this reason do not strive to comprehend Him, but strive to do His will, strive to sense Him more and more vividly within yourself. 5. The God whom we have comprehended is no longer God. The comprehended God becomes as finite as our own self. God can not be comprehended. He is incomprehens- ible - Vivekananda. 6. If the sun blinds your eyes, you can not say there is no sun. Neither can you say there is no God, because 38 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE your reason is lost and confused when you endeavor to comprehend the beginning and the cause of everything. Angelus. 7. "Why dost thou ask My name ?" says God to Moses. "If thou canst see back of all that moves what has ever been, is and will be, thou wilt know Me. My name is the same as My being. I am who I am. I am that what is. He who would know My name, does not know Me." Scovoroda. 8. Reason that may be fathomed, is not the eternal reason; the being that may be named, is not the supreme being. Lao-Tse. 9. To me God is that towards which I am striving, in striving towards which consists my life ; and who exists for me for the very reason, and imperatively so, that I may not comprehend Him or name Him. If I could comprehend Him, I could attain to Him, and there would be nothing towards which I could strive, and there would be no life. But I can not comprehend Him, I can not name Him, but withal I know Him, I know the way to Him, and of all things which I know this knowledge is even the most certain. It is strange that I do not comprehend Him, and withal I am always in fear when I am without Him, and only then am I free from fear when I am with Him. It is still more strange that it is needless to know Him better or more closely than I know Him in this present life. I may draw near to Him, and I long to do so, and therein is my life, but approaching Him does not, can not increase my com- prehension. Every attempt of my imagination to compre- hend (for instance as the Creator, as the Merciful One, or something of that order) only puts me further away from THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 39 Him and arrests my approach to Him. Even the pronoun "He" somehow belittles Him. 10. Anything that may be said of God is unlike Him. God can not be expressed in words. Angelus. V. Unbelief in God 1. The rational man finds within himself the idea of his soul and of the universal soul God, and realizing his inability to reduce these ideas to absolute clearness, humbly stops before them and does not touch the veil. But there have always been, and there still are men of mental refinement and erudition who seek to elucidate the idea of God in words. I do not judge these men. Only they are wrong when they say that there is no God. I admit that it may happen that men and the cunning exploits of men may for a time convince some that there is no God, but such godlessness can not last. In one way or another man will always need God. If Deity manifested itself still more clearly than now, I am convinced that men contrary to God would invent new refinements to deny Him. Reason always bows to that which the heart demands. Rousseau. 2. According to the teachings of Lao-Tse, to think that there is no God is like believing that when one blows with the bellows the current proceeds from the bellows and not from the air around, and that the bellows would blow even if there were no air. 3. When men who lead a wicked life say that there is no God, they are right: God is only for those who look in His direction, and draw nigh to Him. For those who 40 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE have turned away from Him and are walking away from Him, there is no God, there can be no God. 4. Two kinds of men may know God : men of a humble heart, whether they are clever or ignorant, and truly wise men. Only proud men, and men of average intelligence do not know God. Pascal. 5. It is possible not to mention the name of God, not to use that expression, but it is impossible not to acknowl- edge Him. If there be no God, nothing can be. 6. There is no God only for Him who does not seek Him. Seek Him, and He will reveal Himself to you. 7. Moses cries out to God : "Where will I find Thee, O Lord?" God answers: "Thou hast already found Me, if Thou seekest Me." 8. If the thought enters your head that whatever you have believed about God is untrue, that there is no God, be not disturbed, for you may know that this is apt to happen to everybody. Only do not imagine that because you have ceased to believe in God in whom you once believed, it is because there is no God. If you do not believe in the God in whom you once believed, it is because there was some- thing erroneous in your belief. If the savage ceases to believe in his god of wood, it does not mean that there is no God, but merely that God is not made of wood. We cannot comprehend God, but we can be more and more conscious of Him. So that if we discard a crude notion of God, it is really better for us. It helps us to have a better and a higher consciousness of God. 9. To prove that there is a God! Can there be any- thing more absurd than the idea of proving the existence of God? To prove the existence of God is like proving that you are living. Prove it to whom? By what argument? THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 41 For what purpose? If there is no God, there is nothing. How can we prove God? 10. God is. We do not have to prove it. Proving that there is a God is a blasphemy; denying His existence is madness. God lives in our conscience, in the consciousness of humanity, in the surrounding universe. To deny God beneath the dome of the starry firmament, over the graves of our loved ones, before the glorious death of a martyr put to death only a very pitiable, or a very depraved man is capable of doing so. Mazzini. VI. Loving God "I do not understand what it means to love God. Is it possible to love something incomprehensible and unknown? To love your neighbor, that is intelligible and good, but to love God is a mere phrase." Many people speak and think in this manner. But people who speak and think thus, are gravely in error. They do not understand what it means to love their neighbor, not someone agreeable or useful to them, but all men equally, though they be the most dis- agreeable and hostile men. Only he can love his neighbor in this manner who loves God, that God who is the same in all men. Thus not the love of God is unintelligible, but the love of fellow-man without the love of God. THE SOUL THE SOUL The intangible, invisible, incorporeal something, which gives life to all that is living, which is per se, we call God. The same intangible, invisible, incorporeal principle, which is separated by the body from all else, and of which we are conscious as self, we call the soul. I. What is the Soul? 1. A man who has attained old age has passed through many vicissitudes : he was first an infant, then a child, an adult, an old man. But no matter how he has changed, he always calls himself "I." This "I" has always remained the same. This "I" was the same in his infancy, in his period of maturity, in his old age. This unchanging "I" we call the soul. 2. If a man imagines that what he sees all around, the infinite universe, is just as he sees it, he is very much in error. All material things man knows only through his individual sense of sight, hearing and touch. Were his senses different, the whole world would appear different. Therefore we do not know, we can not know this material world as it is. Only one thing we truly and fully know, namely our soul. II. The "I" is Spiritual 1. When we say "I" we do not refer to our body, but to that by which our body lives. What is then this "I"? We can not put into words what this "I" is, but we know it better than anything else that we know. We know that but for this "I" we should know nothing, there would be nothing in the world for us, and we ourselves should not be. 46 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 2. When I think about it, it is more difficult for me to understand what my body is than what my soul is. As close as it is to me, the body is something foreign, it is the soul that is MINE. 3. If a man is not conscious of the soul within him- self, it does not prove that he has no soul, but only that he has not yet learned to be aware of the soul within himself. 4. Until we have realized what is within us, what good is it to us to know what is beyond us ? And is it pos- sible to know the world without knowing ourselves? Can he who is blind at home, possess sight when he is abroad ? Scovoroda. 5. Just as a candle can not burn without a fire, man can not live without a spiritual life. The spirit dwells in all men, but not all men are aware of this. Happy is the life of him who knows this, and unhappy his life who does not know it. Brahminic wisdom. III. The Soul and the Material World 1. We have measured the earth, the sun, the stars and the depths of the sea, we have penetrated the bowels of the earth in search of gold, we have explored rivers, the mountains of the moon, we have discovered new stars and know their dimensions, we have filled up abysses, we have built cunning machinery : not a day passes, but we have new inventions. Is there a limit to our capabilities? But something, the most important thing is lacking. What that is we do not know ourselves. We are like babes : the infant feels that something 1 is wrong, but what or why, he does not know. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 47 Something is wrong because we know much that is superfluous, but do not know the most needful thing: our own self. We do not know what dwells within us. If we knew and remembered what dwells within us, our lives would be altogether different. Scovoroda, 2. All that is material ir> this world, we can not know the true nature thereof. Only the spiritual that is within us is fully known to us, namely that of which we are con- scious, and which does not depend upon our feelings or our thoughts. 3. There are no limits, there can be no limits to the world in any direction. No matter how distant a thing- may be, behind the most distant there are other objects still more distant. The same is true of time : back of thousands of years that have passed, there had been thousands and thousands of previous years. And therefore it is clear that man can not possibly grasp what the material world is to-day, what it has been nor what it will be. What then can man understand? Only one thing, for which. there is no need of either space or time, namely his soul. 4. Men frequently think that only that exists which they can touch with their hands. However, quite on the contrary, only that truly is that can not be seen, heard or touched, what we call "I," our soul. 5. Confucius said: The sky and the earth are great, but they have color, shape and size. But there is something in man that can think of everything and has no color, shape or size. Thus if the whole world were dead that which is within man could of itself give life to the world. 6. Iron is more solid than stone, stone is more solid 48 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE than wood, wood is more solid than water, water is more solid than air. But that which can not be touched, heard or seen is more solid than anything. One thing has always been, is now and will never be lost. | What is it? It is the soul in man. 7. It is well for man to think what he is as regards his body. This body is large as compared with that of the flea, insignificant compared with the earth. It is also well to think that our own earth is a grain of sand compared with the sun, and the sun as a grain of sand compared with Sirius, and Sirius is as nothing compared with still other stars, and so without end. It is clear that man with his body is nothing compared with the sun and the stars. And to think that we were not even thought of a hundred, a thousand, many thousands of years ago, but other men like unto us were still born, grew up and died, that of the millions and millions of men such as I nothing remains, neither bones, nor even the dust of bones, and that after me millions and millions of people will live, and that grass will grow from my bones, and that sheep will feed on the grass, and men will eat the sheep, and nothing will remain of me, not a grain of dust, nor even a memory! Is it not clear that I am nothing? Nothing, indeed, but this nothing has a conception of itself and of its place in the universe. And if it has such a conception, this conception is far from nothing, it is some- thing that is more important than the entire universe, for without this conception within 'me and within other crea- tures like me, that which I call the infinite universe would not exist. ' THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 49 IV. The Spiritual and the Material Principles in Man 1. What are you? A man. What sort of man? Wherein do you differ from others ? I am the son of such and such parents, I am old, or young, rich or poor. Each one of us is a specific individual, different from all other people: man, woman, adult, boy or girl; and in each one of these specific individuals dwells a spiritual be- ing, the same in all of us, so that each one of us is at one and the same time an individual, John or Natalie, and a spiritual being which is the same in all. And when we say : "I will," it means that John or Natalie will, or sometimes it may mean that the spiritual being, which is the same in all of us, wills something. And thus it may happen that John and Natalie desire one thing, and the spiritual crea- ture that dwells within them does not desire that same thing at all, but wills something entirely different. 2. Someone nears the door. I inquire: "Who is there?" The -answer is: "It is I." "What I?" "I who came," is the answer, and a peasant boy enters. He is sur- prised that anyone should inquire who is meant by "I." He is surprised because he feels within himself that one spiri- tual being which is one in us all, and wonders why I should inquire about something which should be clear to everybody. His answer refers to the spiritual "I," but my question re- ferred to the little window through which that "I" peeps out into the world. 3. Some say that what we call our self is merely the body, that my reason, my soul and my love, all of these come from the body; we might with as much right assert that what we call our body is merely the food by which the body is nourished. It is true that my body is merely the transformed food that has been assimilated by my body, 50 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE and that there would be no body without food, but my body is not the food. Food is requisite for the life of the body, but it is not the body. The same is true of the soul. It is true that without the body there would be no soul, yet my soul is not the body. The body is merely requisite for the soul, but the body is not the soul. If it were not for the soul, I should not know about my body. The principle of life is not in the body, but in the soul. 4. When we say : "It was, or it will be, or it may be," we speak of bodily life. But besides the bodily life which was and will be, we know of another life, the spiritual life. And the spiritual life is not something that was, or that will be, but something that is right now. This is the real life. Happy is the man who lives this life of the spirit, and not the life of the body. 5. Christ teaches man that there is something within him that raises him above this life with its vanities, fears and passions. The man who has received the doctrine of Christ shares the experience of the bird that has lived in ignorance of his wings, and suddenly realizes that it has them, and that it may soar, be free and fear nothing. V. Conscience is the Voice of the Soul 1. In each man dwell two creatures: one blind and carnal, and the other seeing and spiritual. The first, the blind creature, eats, drinks, labors, rests, multiplies and per- forms its functions like clockwork. The other, the seeing, the spiritual creature, does nothing of itself, but merely approves or disapproves what the blind, the animal creature is doing. The seeing, the spiritual part of man we call conscience. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 51 This spiritual part of man, or conscience, acts like the com- pass needle. The compass needle moves only when he who is carrying it strays from the path pointed out by the needle. It is the same with the conscience : it is silent as long as the man is doing what i right. But the moment he strays from the right path, con- science shows him where and how far he had erred. 2. When we hear that a man has committed an evil deed, we say that he has no conscience. What is then the conscience? It is the voice of that one spiritual being that dwells in ajl of us. 3. Conscience is the consciousness of the spiritual be- ing that dwells in all men. And only when it is such con- sciousness is it the true guide of human life. Otherwise what people call conscience is not the realization of that spiritual being, but the recognition of what men among whom we live consider good or evil. 4. The voice of the passions may be louder than the voice of the conscience. But the voice of the passions is very different from the calm voice of the conscience. And yet no matter how loudly the passions roar, they subside before the still, calm, persistent voice of the conscience. For it is the voice of the Eternal, the Divine that dwells in man. Channing. 5. Kant, the philosopher, remarked that two things excited his wonder above all others : first the stars in the heavens, and second the law of goodness in the soul of man. 6. The genuine good is in your own self, in your soul. He who seeks good without himself is like the shepherd seeking among his herd that lamb which he has sheltered in his own bosom. Hindu wisdom. 52 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE VI. The Divinity of the Soul 1. The first consciousness that awakes in man is that of being apart from all other material things, or the con- sciousness of his body. Then the consciousness of that which is thus separated, or the consciousness of his soul, and finally the consciousness of that from which this spiri- tual foundation of life is set apart, the consciousness of All of God. And that something which is conscious of having been severed from All, from God, is the one spiritual being that dwells in every man. 2. To be conscious of self as a separate being is to be conscious of the existence of that from which one has been separated, to be conscious of the existence of All of God. 3. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself ; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. John, v, 24-26. 4. A drop of water entering the ocean becomes the ocean. The soul uniting with God becomes God. Angelus. 5. When a truth is uttered by man it does not mean that the truth came forth from the man. All truth is from God. It merely passes through man. If it passes through one man instead of another it is merely because one has THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 53 succeeded in making himself so transparent that the truth can pass through him. Pascal. 6. God says : "I was a treasure unknown to anyone. I desired to be known, and I created man." Mohammed. 7. God can not be comprehended by reason. We know that He is, only because we are conscious of Him within, and not because we recognize Him with our minds. In order to be a true man, man must be conscious of God within. To ask : "Is there a God ?" is like asking : "Do I exist ?" That whereby I live is God. 8. The body is the food of the soul, it is like the scaf- folding used in erecting the structure of true life. The greatest joy a man may know is the joy of realiz- ing the existence within himself of a free, rational, loving and therefore happy being, in other words the consciousness of God within. 9. If a man does not know himself, it is useless to counsel him to endeavor to know God. This advice may be given only to such a man as knows himself. Before a man may know God, he must know himself. 10. If I melt in God's crucible, He will impress His image upon me. Angelus. 11. The soul is a glass, God is the Light that passes through the glass. 12. Do not think: it is I that live. It is not I that live, but that spiritual being that dwelleth in me. I am only the opening through which this creature appears. 13. There is only I and Thou. If it were not for us two, there would be nothing in this world. Angelus. 54 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 14. I know God not when I believe what is said about Him, but when I am as conscious of Him as I am of my own soul. 15. I am to God another He. He finds in me that which for all eternity remain similar to Him. 16. It is as though man heard always a voice behind him, but had no power to turn his head and to behold him who speaks. This voice speaks in all tongues and guides all men, but no man has ever discovered him who speaks. If only man obeyed this voice to the letter and accepted it so as to keep himself apart from it even in thought, he would feel that this voice and himself are one. And the more a man considers this voice as his own self, the better will be his life. This voice will open up to him a life of blessedness, because this voice is the voice of God in man. Emerson. 17. God desires good to all, therefore if you desire good to all, in other words if you love, God lives within you. 18. Man, do not remain man. Become God, only then will you make of yourself what you ought. Angelus. 19. Some say: Save your soul. Only that can be saved which can perish. The soul can not perish, for it is the only thing that exists. The soul must not be saved, but purified from what defiles it and illuminated from what be- nights it, so that God may pass more and more freely through it. 20. Some say: "Have you forgotten God?" This is a good question. To forget God is to forget Him who lives within you, and by whom you live. 21. As I need God, so God needs me. Angelus. 22. If you grow weak and it goes hard with you, re- member that you have a soul and that you can live in it. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 55 But we imagine instead that other men like unto ourselves can sustain us. Emerson. 23. You can escape from the most difficult situation the moment you realize that you live not with your body, but with your soul, and remember that there is that within you which is more powerful than anything in the world. 24. He who is united with God, can not be afraid of God. God can not do injury to Himself. 25. Man may ask himself at any time : "What am I ? What am I doing? What am I thinking? What am I feel- ing at this moment?" And he can immediately reply to himself : "I am doing, thinking, feeling this or that at the present time." But if man ask himself: "What is that within me that is conscious of what I am doing, thinking or feeling?", his only answer can be that it is the con- sciousness of self. This consciousness of self is what we call the soul. 26. The fish dwelling in a river heard once that people maintained that fish could live only in the water. And the fish were much surprised and began to inquire among them- selves, asking, "What is water?" One of the wise fish replied : "They say that there is a very wise old fish in the sea, let us swim to him and ask him what is water." And the fish swam out to sea, to where the wise old fish was living, and asked him : "What is water?" And the wise old fish answered: "Water is that wherein and whereby we live. The reason you do not know water is that you live in it and by it." Even so it seems to people at times that they do not know what is God, and yet they live in Him. Sufi. 56 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE VII. The Life of Man is Not in the Body But in the Soul, Not in the Body and in the Soul, But in the Soul Alone But he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself ; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. John, vni, 26-28. To lift up the Son of man is to recognize in our self the spirit that dwells in us and to lift it up above the body. 2. The soul and the body, these two are what man calls his own, the subjects of his perpetual care. But you must know that the true self is not your body, but your soul. Remember this, raise your soul above all flesh, preserve it from the filth of life, do not allow the flesh to suppress it. Then you will lead a good life. Marcus Aurelius. 3. Some say that one must not love oneself. Without loving oneself, there would be no life. The main issue is what to love in oneself; the soul or the body? 4. There is no body so strong and healthy that it does not ail sometimes. There are no riches that can not be lost. There is no power that will not cease. All of these things are unstable. If a man puts the aim of his life upon being strong, rich, influential, even though he attain what he strives for, still will he have anxieties, fears and griefs, for he will see that all the things upon which he built his life THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 57 must leave him, and he will see himself gradually growing older and nearing dissolution. What to do then, to avoid fears and anxieties ? There is only one remedy: to build your life not upon things that are fleeting, but upon things that will not perish, upon the spirit that lives in man. 5. Do what your body asks of you: seek after glory, honors and wealth, and your life will be hell. Do what the spirit within you asks : seek after lowliness, mercy and love and you will not need any paradise. Paradise will be in your soul. 6. There are duties to one's neighbors, and there are duties that every man owes to himself, to the spirit that lives within him. This duty is not to defile it, not to destroy it, not to suppress this spirit, and to cultivate is unceasingly. 7. In wordly matters you are never sure whether to do what you are doing or to forbear, never certain of the outcome of what you undertake. It is different if you live for your soul. If you live for your soul, you will assuredly know what to do, namely that which the soul demands, and you will assuredly know that good will come out of what you are doing. 8. The moment you feel the rise of passions, whims, fear or malice, remember who you are ; remember that you are not the body, but the soul, and that which has agitated you will at once subside. 9. All our troubles are due to the fact that we forget that which dwells within us, and that we sell our soul for the mess of pottage of carnal joys. 58 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 10. In order to see the true light such as it is, you must become a true light yourself. Angelus. VIII. The True Blessedness of Man is Spiritual Blessedness 1. Man lives by the spirit and not by his body. If a man knows this and lays out his life in the spirit and not in the body, though you put him in chains and confine him behind iron bars, still will he be free. 2. Every man knows two lives in his experience ; that of the body and that of the spirit. The life of the body, no sooner than it reaches fullness, begins to grow feeble. And it grows more and more so until it reaches dissolution. The life of the spirit, on the other hand, from the day of birth until the moment of death constantly develops and gathers strength. If a man live the life of the body, his entire life is like the life of a man sentenced to death. But if a man live for his soul, that whereon he bases his happiness gathers strength every day of his life, and death has no terrors for him. In order to lead a good life it is not necessary to know where you come from or what will be in the world to come. Think only of that which your soul, and not your body, de- sires, and you will not need to know where you come from or what will be after death. You will not need to know these things, for you will have the experience of that per- fect blessedness for which no questions of the past and of the future exist. 4. When the world came into existence, reason became its mother. He who realizes that the basis of his life is THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 59 the spirit, knows that be is beyond all peril. When he closes his lips and locks the portals of his senses at the end of life, he will feel no anxiety. Lao-Tse. 5. An immortal soul requires a task as immortal as itself. And just such a task is assigned to it: endless striv- ing after perfection of self and of the world. THERE IS ONE SOUL IN ALL THERE IS ONE SOUL IN ALL All living creatures are separated one from another in their bodies, but that which gives them life is one and the same in all of them. ^'^ I. The Consciousness of the Divinity of the Soul Unites All Men 1. The doctrine of Christ reveals to men that one and the same spiritual principle dwells in them all, and that they are all brothers, and it unites them thus for a life of happy communion. Lamenais. 2. It is not enough to say that the same kind of a soul lives in every man as in me : it is the same soul that dwells in every man and in me. All human beings are separated one from another by their individual bodies, but they are all joined through the same spiritual principle which gives life to everyone. 3. To be associated with people is a great blessing, but how to be united with all? Supposing I unite with my relatives, how about the rest of the people? Supposing I unite with all friends, all Russians, all co-religionists. How about people whom I do not know, men of other national- ities and religions ? There are so many men, and they differ so much. What I am to do ? There is only one remedy, to forget about people, not to worry how to be one with them, but to strive to be one with that one spiritual being that dwells in me and in all men. 4. When I think of those millions upon millions of beings living the same life as I, many thousands of miles away, people whom I shall never know, and who know 64 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE nothing about me, I involuntarily ask myself : Is there really no tie between us that binds us, shall we die without knowing one another? This can not be. Indeed, this can not be. Strange as it may seem, I feel, I know that there is a tie between myself and all the people in the world, living or dead. What that tie is I can neither understand nor explain, but I know that it exists. 5. I remember that someone told me that there is in every man much that is very good and humane, and also much that is very evil and malicious, and according to his disposition, now this, now the other is manifested. This is perfectly correct. The sight of suffering evokes not only in different peo- ple, but sometimes in the same individual the most contra- dictory sentiments : sometimes compassion, sometimes some- thing akin to pleasure which may assume the proportions of even malicious joy. I have noticed in my own self that I have sometimes regarded all creatures with genuine compassion, sometimes with the most thorough indifference, and occasionally with hatred and even with malice. This clearly shows that there are within us two dif- ferent and directly contradictory methods of consciousness. One, when we are conscious of being individual beings, when all other creatures seem to be utterly alien, when they all are something else and not I. Then we can feel nothing towards them but indifference, envy, hatred or malice. And the other method of consciousness is the consciousness of oneness with them. With this method of consciousness all creatures seem to us the same thing as our own "I" and therefore their sight elicits our love. The first method of consciousness separates us as an insurmountable wall, the THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 65 other removes the partition and we are fused into one. The first method teaches us to acknowledge that all other crea- tures are something other than I, and the other teaches us that all creatures are the same "I" that I recognize within myself. Schopenhauer. 6. The more a man lives for the soul the better *he realizes his oneness with all living creatures. Live for the body, and you are alone among strangers ; live for the soul, and all the world is your kin. 7. A river does not resemble a pool, a pool does not resemble a barrel, a barrel does not resemble a cup of water. But the same water is found in the river, in the pool, in the barrel and in the cup. Likewise all men vary, but the spirit that lives within them is one and the same. 8. Man understands the meaning of life only when he sees himself in every man. 9. Enter into conversation with any man, look search- ingly into his eyes, and you will feel that you are akin to him, you will imagine you had known him somewhere in the past. Why is it so? Because that by which you live is the same in you and in him. 10. In every man dwells that spirit than which there is nothing higher in the world, and therefore no matter what a man may be : statesman or convict, prelate or pauper, they are all equal, for in every one of them dwells that which is above all other things in the world. To value and esteem a nobleman above a pauper is like valuing and esteeming one gold coin more than another be- cause one is wrapped in white and another in black paper. Always remember that the same soul dwells in one man as in yourself, and therefore all men must be treated alike, carefully and respectfully. 66 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 11. The principal thing in the doctrine of Christ is that He acknowledged all men to be brothers. In every man he saw a brother and therefore he loved every one, no matter who or what he was. He looked upon the in- side, not the outside. He did not look upon the body, but saw the immortal soul through the garments of the rich, and through the rags of the beggar. In the most depraved of men He saw something which could transform this fallen man into the greatest saint, as great and as holy as He was Himself. Channing. 12. Children are wiser than adults. The child does not make any distinction about the social status of people, but feels with his whole soul that in every man lives some- thing which is one and the same in him and in all other people. 13. If a man does not see in every neighbor the same spirit which unites him with all the rest of the people in the world, he lives as in a dream. Only he is awake and lives truly who sees himself and God in his neighbor. II. One and the Same Spiritual Principle Lives Not Only in All Men, But in All Living Creatures 1. We feel in our heart that the thing by which we live, what we call our true "I," is the same not only in every man, but also in the dog, in the horse, in the mouse, in the hen, in the sparrow, in the bee, and even in a plant. 2. If we say that birds, horses, dogs and monkeys are entirely alien to us, we might equally reasonably assert that all savage, black and yellow people are alien to us. And if we consider them aliens, the black and the yellow people may equally reasonably consider us aliens. Who THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 67 then is our neighbor? To this there is but one answer: do not ask who is your neighbor, but do unto every creature what you desire to have done unto you. 3. All that is living abhors pain, all that is living abhors death : recognize yourself not only in man, but in every living creature, do not slay, do not cause suffering and death. All that is living desires the same things as you: rec- ognize yourself in every living creature. Buddhist Wisdom. 4. Man is higher than animals not because he can torture them, but because he is capable of having compas- sion with them, and man has compassion with animals be- cause he feels that in them dwells the same thing that dwells in him also. 5. Compassion with living things is most essential to any man who would advance in virtue. He who is com- passionate will not injure nor offend, and he will freely forgive. A good man can not be lacking in compassion. And if a man be unjust and mean, such a man will surely be lacking in compassion. Without compassion towards all that is living, virtue is impossible. Schopenhauer. 6. It is possible to lose by degrees that compassion to living creatures which is natural to all men. It is partic- ularly noticeable in hunting. Otherwise kindly people grow accustomed to the chase and learn to torture and kill animals without noticing their own cruelty. 7. "Thou shalt not slay" does not mean man alone, but all that is living. This commandment was inscribed in the heart of man before being graven on the tablets of the law. 08 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 8. Men think it right to eat animals, because they are led to believe that God sanctions it. This is untrue. No matter in what books it may be written that it is not sinful to slay animals and to eat them, it is more clearly written in the heart of man than in any books that animals are to be pitied and should not be slain any more than human beings. We all know this if we do not choke the voice of our conscience. 9. If only all men who eat animals had to slay them in person, the greater portion of human beings would re- frain from eating meat. 10. We marvel that there should have been men, that there still should be men who slay human beings in order to eat their flesh. The time will come when our grand- children will marvel that their grandfathers had been in the habit of killing millions of animals every day in order to eat them, although they could satisfy their hunger both wholesomely and pleasantly with the fruits of the earth and without killing. 11. It is possible to lose little by little the habit of compassion even with human beings, and it is also possi- ble to accustom oneself to have compassion even with insects. The more compassion fills the heart of man, the better it is for his soul. 12. We are all vividly conscious of the fact that there is some one, identical thing in all of us human beings, but that this same thing is also in animals we realize less vividly. Yet if we give a little thought to the life of even these little creatures, we cannot help but realize that the same principle dwells in them also. 13. "But surely we can slay flies or fleas"? "Un- wittingly we slay with each movement creatures whom we THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 69 even cannot notice in ordinary life." This is commonly said by those who seek to find excuses for the cruelty of men to animals. Those who speak thus forget that man cannot attain perfection. Even so in the matter of com- passion with animals. We cannot live without destroying other creatures, but we can be more or less compassionate. The more compassionate we are with animals, the better it will be for our own souls. III. The Better a Man's Life the More Clearly He Realizes the Oneness of the Divine Principle that Dwells Within Him 1. It seems to people that they are all separated one from another. Yet if every man lived only his life apart from the others, human life could not continue. Human life is only possible because it is one and the same spirit of God that lives in all men and because they realize it. 2. Others think that only they live truly, and that they are everything, and that all others are as nothing. There are many such people. But there are also reasonable and good men who realize that the life of others, even of animals, is in itself as important as their own. Such men do not live in their "I" alone, but also in other beings, human and animal. It is easy for such men to live, and it is easy to die. When they die, only that passes away whereby had lived in themselves ; that whereby they lived in others remains. Those, however, who live in their own self alone, have a narrow life and a grievous death, for when they come to die, such people think that all whereby they lived is passing away. Schopenhauer. 3. Remember that the same spirit dwells in every man 70 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE as in your own self, and for this reason venerate as a holy thing not only your own soul, but also the soul of every man. 4. Why do we feel blest in our soul after all works of love ? Because all works of love demonstrate to us that our true self is not only within our own personality, but also in all things living. If you live for yourself alone, you live with only a minute particle of your true self. But if you live for others you feel that your "I" is expanding. Living for self alone, you will feel yourself among enemies, you will feel that the happiness of others obstructs your own happiness. If you live for others, you will feel among friends, and the happiness of everybody else will be your own happiness. Schopenhauer. 5. Man finds his happiness only in serving others. And he finds happiness in serving others because in serv- ing others he unites with the spirit of God that dwells within them. 6. That divine spirit whereby we live becomes fully comprehensible to us only if we love our neighbor. 7. All truly good works, in which man forgets him- self and thinks solely of the needs of another are wonderful and would be incomprehensible, if they were not so natural and habitual to us. Why, indeed, should a man deprive himself of anything, worry and struggle for some other human being whom he may not know, while there are so many such people in the world? It can be explained only in this way, that he who benefits another knows that he whom he benefits is not a being separate from himself, but the same being by which he himself lives, only in an- other form. Schopenhauer. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 71 8. All that we know we perceive either through our five senses, that is we see, hear or touch things, or by transporting ourselves into other creatures, that is, living their life. If we were to perceive things only through our five senses, the world would be incomprehensible to us. What we know of the world we know because through love we can enter into other creatures and live their lives. People are separated by their bodies and cannot under- stand one another. But love unites them all. And therein is great blessedness. 9. If you live the life of the spirit all disunion among men causes you spiritual suffering. Why this suffering? Just as bodily pain points to a. danger menacing the life of the body, even so spiritual suffering points to a danger menacing the spiritual life of man. 10. An Indian philosopher remarked : "In you and in me, as well as in all creatures, dwells the identical spirit of life, and yet you are angry with me, you do not love me. Remember that you and I are one. Whatever you are, you and I are one." 11. No matter how evil, unjust, stupid, or disagree- able a man may be, remember that in ceasing to respect him you break connection not only with him alone, but also with the entire spiritual world. 12. In order to live at peace with all men think of the common bond uniting you, and not of that which sepa- rates you from them. 13. It is considered a great and an unpardonable sin to treat with indignity objects of the external worship of men, but it is not considered a sin to treat human beings with indignity. And yet in the most depraved man there dwells something far superior to any objects of external worship, which are only the work of human hands. 72 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 14. It is easy to bear sorrows that are not caused by people, but by disease, conflagration, inundation or earth- quake. But it is very painful to suffer by reason of the acts of people, one's brothers. We know that people ought to love us, but instead of that they torture us. "All people are the same as I. Why do they cause me pain?" We think. For this reason it is easier to bear sorrows from illness, conflagrations, drouths than those caused by human unkindness. IV. Effects of Realizing the Oneness of the Soul in All Human Beings 1. Do we realize our spiritual brotherhood? Do we realize that one and the same divine principle exists in the souls of all men as in our own? No, we do not yet realize it. And yet this is the one thing that can give us true liberty and happiness. Liberty and happiness cannot be until men realize their oneness. And yet if men were to recognize this basic truth of Christianity, the oneness of the spiritual principle in man, the whole life of man would be changed and such relations would be established among men as we cannot even imagine at the present time. Insults, abuse and oppression which we inflict upon our fellow men would arouse our indignation more than do the greatest crimes of the present day. Yes, we need a new revelation, not of heaven and hell, but of the spirit that dwells within us. Channing. 2. If man sought to distinguish himself from others by attaining wealth, honors or offices, he would be dis- satisfied, no matter how he magnified himself, nor would he ever be serene and happy. But if he realized that the same divine principle lives within him as in all other men, THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 73 he would immediately attain peace and happiness, no matter in what state he might be, for he would realize that there is something within him that is higher than anything else in the world. 3. The longer men live the better they realize that their life is only then happy and joyous when they rec- ognize their oneness in one and the same spirit that dwells in all. 4. Love provokes love. And it is bound to be so, be- cause God awaking within you, awakes Himself also in the other man. 5. When meeting another, no matter how disagree- able or repulsive he may seem to you, it is well to remember that through him you have the chance of communion with that -spiritual principle that lives in him, in yourself and in the whole world, and therefore, you must not feel burdened by this communion, but be grateful for it as a blessing. 6. A branch cut off from the trunk is by this same act separated from the tree. Even so a man who quarrels with another man separates himself from all mankind. But the branch is cut off by the hand of a stranger, while man cuts himself off from his neighbor through his own hatred, and does not realize that thereby he cuts himself apart from all mankind. Marcus Aurelius. 7. There is no evil deed committed for which only he who has committed it is punished. We cannot so hide ourselves that the evil within us does not pass into other people. Our deeds, good or evil, are like our children. They live and act no longer in accordance with our will, but of their own accord George Eliot. 74 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 8. Human life is hard only because men do not know that the same soul which dwells within them lives also in all people. This accounts for the enmity of men among themselves. This accounts for some being rich, others poor, some being masters, others laborers; this accounts for envy and malice, this accounts for all human suffering. 9. The body of man craves only its own good, and men submit to this deception. And as soon as man lives for his body alone, he disagrees with men and with God and fails to attain the good which he is seeking after. LOVE LOVE The soul of man, being separated by the body from God and from the souls of other creatures, strives to unite with that from which it is separated. The soul unites with God through a constantly growing consciousness of God within and with the souls of other creatures through a con- stantly growing manifestation of love. I. Love Unites Men with God and with Other Creatures 1. Jesus said to the lawyer: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and the great command- ment." And the second is like unto it: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Thus spake the lawyer to Christ, and Jesus sajd: "Thoii hast answered right, this do (that is, love God and thy neighbor) and thou shalt live." 2. Woe unto you, ye men of the world. There is grief and worry over your heads and under your feet, to the right of you and to the left of you, and ye are a mystery unto yourselves. And such mysteries will ye remain unless ye become happy and loving as the children. Only then shall ye know Me, and knowing Me ye shall know yourselves, and only then shall ye rule yourselves. And only then, as ye look out of your soul into the world, all things will be a blessing to you, in the world and within your own selves. Buddhist wisdom. 3. Only perfection can be loved. Therefore, in order to love one of two things is required ; either to count that perfect which is imperfect, or to love perfection, that is 78 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE God. If we count that perfect which is imperfect, sooner or later the error will be revealed, and the love will cease. But the love of God, that is of perfection, cannot cease. 4. God is love; he who dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God dwelleth in him. No man has ever seen God, but if we love one another God dwelleth in us and His love is perfected in us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen? Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God, for God is love. Based upon 1 John, IV. 5. Men can unite truly only in God. In order to unite, men need not walk towards one another, but all must go in the direction of God. If there were an immense temple in which the light entered only in the center, from above, then in order to meet in that temple all men would have to go towards the light in the center thereof. Even so in the world. Let all men walk in the direction of God, and eventually they will all meet together. 6. "Beloved, let us love one another; love is of God, and he that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love," said John the Apostle. To love all men seems difficult. But all things are diffi- cult until you learn how to do them. Men can learn any- thing: to sew, to weave, to till the soil, to mow, to forge iron, to read and to write. Even so they must learn how to love all people. And to learn to do this is not difficult, because loving one another has been ingrained in our hearts. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 79 "No man has ever seen God, but if we love one an- other, He dwelleth in us." And if God is love and dwelleth in us, it is not difficult to learn to love. We must only strive to be delivered from that which hinders love, to be delivered from that which prevents its outward manifestation. And if you only make a start, you will soon attain the most important and nec- essary of all sciences: how to love people. 7. There is nothing more joyful than the knowledge that people love us. But curiously enough, in order that people might love us we need not strive to please them, but only to draw nearer to God. Draw nigh to God, give no thought to people, and the people will love you. 8. Do not ask God to unite you. He has made you one already by placing His one and the same spirit in you all. Only cast off the things which divide you, and you will be one. 9. Man imagines that he wills his own good. But this is only seemingly so. It is the indwelling God who wills his good. And God wills the good of all men. 10. He who says that he loves God and loves not his neighbor deceives the people. And he who says that he loves his neighbor and does not love God, deceives himself. 11. It is said we must fear God. This is untrue. We must love God, not fear him. You can not love what you fear. And besides, you can not fear God, because God is love. How can we fear love? Do not fear God, but be conscious of Him within yourself. And if you are con- scious of God within, you will fear nothing in the world. 12. Some say that the last day will be the day of judg- ment, and that the God of goodness will be a God of wrath. Yet from a God of blessings nothing can come but what is good. 80 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE Whatever faiths there be, there is only one true faith that God is love. And from love nothing can come but good. Do not fear whether in this life or after it, nothing can be, nothing will be but good. Persian wisdom. 13. To live a Godly life is to be like unto God. To be like unto God, you must fear nothing and desire nothing for self. In order to fear nothing and desire nothing for self, you need only love. Some say, look within, and you will have peace. This is not the entire truth. Others say: come out of self; strive to forget self and seek happiness in pleasures. This also is untrue. This is untrue if alone for the reason that pleasures will not elim- inate disease. Peace and happiness are neither within us, nor outside of us, but are in God, and God is both within us and outside of us. Love God, and you will find in God that which you seek. II. Just as the Human Body Craves Food and Suffers When Deprived of It, so Does the Soul of Man Crave Love and Suffers When Deprived of It 1. All things are drawn to earth and to one another. Even so all souls are drawn to God and to one another. So that men might live all as one, and not each for himself, God revealed to them only that which is needful for all, and not that which is needful for each one sep- arately. And so that men might know what is needful to all and for all, He entered their souls, and in their souls mani- fested Himself as love. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 1 3. The troubles of men do not come from poor har- vests, from conflagrations, from evil doers, but only from their living their lives apart from one another. And they live apart, because they have no faith in that voice of love which dwells in them and which draws them together. 4. As long as man lives the animal life, it seems to him that if he is separated from other people, it must be so and cannot be otherwise. But as soon as he commences to live the life of the spirit, he finds it strange, deplorable and even painful to be apart from other people, and he will strive to become one with them. And it is love alone that makes people one. 5. Every man knows that he must do those things which unite him with people rather than those which sep- arate him from them ; he knows it not because any one has so commanded him, but because the more he unites with people, the better he lives, and, o,n the contrary, the more he separates from them, the worse is his life. 6. The business of every man's life is to grow better and better every year, every month, every day. And the better men become, the more closely they unite one with another. And the more closely they unite, the better be- comes their life. 7. The more I love a person, the less I feel my sep- aratedness from him. It seems as though he is the same as I, I the same as he. 8. If we only firmly held to this rule; to be one with people in the things on which we agree, without demand- ing their adherence to the things from which they dissent. we would be much closer to Christ than those so-called Christians who keep themselves aloof from men of other religions, demanding their adherence to their own view of the truth. 82 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 9. Love your enemies, and you will have no enemies. 10. The path to union is as discernible as a plank thrown across a puddle. The moment you swerve from the path you find yourself in the mire of worldly vanities, quarrels and malice. III. Love is Only then Genuine When It Embraces All 1. God wanted us to be happy, and for that reason endowed us with a longing for happiness, but He wanted us to be happy in the aggregate and not as individuals, and for that reason He endowed us with a longing for love. For this reason men will be happy only when they all love one another. 2. The Roman philosopher Seneca asserted that all that is living, all that we see about us, is one body ; even as our own hands, feet, stomach and bones, we are all mem- bers of one body. We have all been born alike, we all alike seek our own good, we all understand that it is better for us to help one another, rather than to harm one another. The same love to one another has been implanted in our hearts. We are like stones joined together in an arch and are bound to collapse unless we support one another. 3. Every man strives to do as much good for himself as possible, and the greatest good in the world is to be in love and harmony with all people. How then can we attain this boon if we feel that we love some people, but do not love others ? We must learn to love those whom we do not love. Man learns the most difficult tasks, he learns to read and write, acquires sciences and crafts. If man only ap- plied himself as assiduously to acquiring love as to learning various crafts, and sciences, he would soon train himself to love all persons, even those who are distasteful to him. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 83 4. If you realize that love is the most important thing in life, you would not on meeting a man debate wherein he could be useful to you, but how and wherein you could be useful to him. Follow this rule, and you will always suc- ceed better than if you took care of yourself alone. 5. If we love those who attract us, who praise us, who do us good, then we love for ourselves, so as to better our- selves. Genuine love is when we love not for ourselves, seeking no benefit for ourselves, but for those whom we love, and when we love not because people are attractive or useful to us, but because we acknowledge in every being that spirit which dwells in us. Only when we love in this manner can we love those that hate us, our enemies, as Christ taught us to do. 6. We must respect every man, no matter how miser- able or ridiculous he may be. We must remember that in every man dwells the same spirit as in us. Even if a man is repulsive, both as to body and as to soul, we must think like this: "There must be such odd people in the world, we must bear with them." But if we show such people that we loathe them, we are in the first instance unjust, and then we challenge their bitter animosity. Such as he is he cannot alter himself. What else can he do but to fight us like a deadly enemy if we show hostility to him? We would, indeed, be good to him if he ceased to be as he is. But he cannot do this. Therefore, we must be good to every man just as he is, not requiring of him to do that which he cannot do, not requiring him, in other words, to cease to be himself. Schopenhauer. 7. Endeavor to love him whom you once did not love, whom you have condemned, or who may have done you an injury. And if you succeed in doing so, you will learn a 84 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE new joy. Even as a bright light dispelling the darkness, the light of love will shine gloriously and joyously in your heart once you rid yourself of hatred. 8. The best of men is he who loves all and does good to all without distinction, whether they be good or bad. Mohammed. 9. Why is a disagreement with a fellow man so pain- ful, and hatred of a fellow man still more painful? Be- cause we all feel that the principle which makes us all hu- man beings is the same in all of us, so that when we hate others, we are in discord with that which is one in all, we are in discord with ourselves. 10. "I am weary, I am despondent, I am lonely." Who told you to separate yourself from all people and to shut yourself up in the prison house of your solitary, miserable and futile self? 11. Act so that you may tell every man : "Do as I do." Kant. 12. Until I see that the principal precept of Christ, to love your enemy, is observed, I shall not believe that those who call themselves Christians are Christians indeed. Lessing. IV. Only the Soul May Be Truly Loved 1. Man loves himself. But if in loving himself he loves his body, he is in error. Such love will bring him nothing but sufferings. Loving himself is only then right when man in doing so loves his soul. And the soul is the same in all people. Therefore, if a man loves his soul, he will also love the souls of other people. 2. All men crave one thing and work for it unceas- THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 85 ingly, namely to live well. Therefore, since' the earliest days and in all places saints and sages have taught their fellow men how to live so as to make life good instead of evil. And all these saints and sages, in many climes and different periods, have taught men one and the same doctrine. This doctrine is brief and plain. It shows that all men live by the same spirit, that all men are one and the same, but are separated in this life by their bodies, and if they realize that they all live by the same spirit, they must all unite in love. And if men do not realize this, and live by their separate bodies, they are hostile to one another and are unhappy. Therefore, the whole doctrine consists in doing the things that unite people, and avoiding the things that sepa- rate them. It is easy to believe in this doctrine, because it has been implanted in the heart of every man. 3. If a man lives only the life of his body, he imprisons himself. Living for the soul opens the door of this prison and leads man into the joyful life of freedom that is com- mon to all. 4. The body seeks only its own blessing, though the soul be harmed. The soul seeks its own blessing, though the body be harmed. This struggle continues until man realizes that his life is not in the body, but in the soul, and that the body is only the material with which the soul must do its work. 5. If two men start on a journey from Moscow to Kieff, no matter how far they are one from the other, even if one be close to the gates of Kieff, and the other had just left Moscow, eventually they will meet in one place. But no matter how close together they be, if one start 86 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE for Moscow and the other for Kieff, they will be always apart. Even so with the life of men. The saint, if he lives for his soul, and the weakest sinner, if he but live for his soul, live for one and the same thing and sooner or later the two must meet. But if two men dwell together, and one lives for his body, while the other lives for his soul, they will inevitably draw further and further apart. 6. It is hard for people to live without knowing wh} they live. Yet there are people who are so sure that it is impossible to know this that they even boast of it. But it is not only possible, it is necessary to know why. The meaning of life is to make the soul more and more independent of the body and to bring it into union with the souls of others and with the principle of all God. People think and say that they do not know this only because they do not live in accord with the teachings of all the wise men of the world, and even with the dictates of their own reason and conscience. V. Love is a Natural Characteristic of Man 1. It is as natural for a man to love as it is for water to flow downward. Oriental wisdom. 2. A bee obeying the law of its nature must fly, a serpent must creep, a fish must swim and a man must love. Therefore, if a man instead of loving injures others, he acts as unnaturally as a bird that would swim or a fish that would fly. 3. A horse seeks safety from its enemy by the speed of its legs. It is unfortunate not when it cannot sing like THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 87 a bird, but when it has lost that which is natural to it the speed of its legs. The most precious possession of a dog is its scent. If it loses that, it is unfortunate, but not if it is unable to fly. Even so man is not then unfortunate if he is unable to overpower a bear or a lion or wicked adversaries, but if he loses his most precious gift, his spiritual nature, his capacity to love. Feel no regrets if a man die, or lose his wealth, if he be without home or estate; none of these things belong to man. But grieve if a man lose his truest possession, his supreme blessing, his capacity to love. Epictetus. 4. A girl who was deaf, dumb and blind was taught to read and write by the sense of touch; her teacher en- deavored to explain to her the meaning of love, and the little girl answered : "Yes, I understand, it is that which people always feel one towards another." 5. A Chinese philosopher was asked the meaning of science. He replied: "To know people." He was asked the meaning of virtue. He replied to love people. 6. There is only one unerring guide for all the crea- tures of the world. This guide is the Universal Spirit which impels every creature to do that which it ought to do. This spirit commands fhe tree to grow up towards the sun ; this same spirit in the flower commands it to pass into seed, in the seed commands it to sink into the soil and to grow. In man this Spirit commands him to seek union with other creatures through love. 7. A Hindu philosopher said : "As a mother guards her only child, nursing it, cherishing it, educating it, so thou, Everyman, nurse, cherish and develop within thyself that which is the most precious tning in the world: love 88 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE to others and to all living creatures." All faiths teach this: the faith of the Brahmins, of the Jews, of the Budd- hists, of the Chinese, of the Christians and of the Moham- medans. Therefore the most necessary thing in the world is to learn to love. 8. Among the Chinese there were three sages Con- fucius, Lao-Tse and Mi-Ti, the last of whom is but little know to us. Mi-Ti taught that men should be trained to respect love alone, and not power, wealth or courage. He said: men are trained to esteem wealth and glory above all other things and they care only for the attainment of wealth and glory, but they should be trained to esteem love above all things and to care in their lives for the attainment of love for other people, and to use their utmost endeavors in order to learn to love. No attention was paid to Mi-Ti. Mendse, a disciple of Confucius, disagreed with Mi-Ti, saying that one cannot live by love alone. And the Chinese listened to Mendse. Five hundred years passed, and Christ taught the same doc- trine as Mi-Ti. Only he brought it out more strongly and clearly. But even now, although they do not dispute the teaching of love, the followers of Christ fail to obey his teaching. But the time is coming, it is coming soon, when men will be unable to avoid obeying this doctrine, because it is implanted in the hearts of all men, and failure to obey it causes men to suffer increasingly. 9. A time must come when men will cease to fight, battle, put people to death, and when they will love one another. This time is bound to come, because the love of fellow men, and not their hatred, has been implanted in the souls of men. Let us then do all within our power to hasten this time. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 89 VI. Love Alone Brings True Blessing 1. You crave that which is good? You shall attain that which you seek, if you but crave that good which is good for all. And love alone can yield it. 2. "He who would save his life shall lose it, he who would give his life for the sake of good, shall save it. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" So spake Christ, and even so spake the pagan Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius: "When, O my soul," he addressed himself, "wilt thou obtain mastery over my body? When wilt thou be delivered from all wordly de- sires and sorrows and cease to require that men serve thee with life or death? When wilt thou realize that the genuine good is always in thy power, that it consists in one thing only, namely, love for all people ?" 3. "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness has blinded his eyes. . . . Let us not love in word, neither in tongue ; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him." 1 John. 4. I do not know, and indeed I cannot know, whether this or that religious teacher is right, but that the best thing I can do is to increase the love within me, this I know for a certainty, and can have no doubt on that score. I can have no doubt of that because the increase of love within me immediately increases my happiness. 90 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 5. If all men were truly one, that which we under- stand to be our own individual life (our life apart from others) would not exist as such, because our life is a con- tinued striving for a union of that which is disunited. In this constantly increasing union of that which is disunited is true life and the one true blessing of life. 6. We find everything, but we cannot find ourselves. How strange. Man lives many years in the world and cannot observe when he feels best of all. If he only chanced to observe this, he would clearly comprehend wherein is true happiness. He would clearly comprehend that he feels happy only when there is love in his soul for others. Evidently we little commune with our own self in solitude, if we have not found this out. We have corrupted our minds and no longer strive to learn that which is needful for us. If amid the vanities of life we stopped for a season to look within our own self, we should discover wherein is our true happiness. Our body is weak, unclean, mortal, but a treasure is concealed in it, the immortal spirit of God. If we but rec- ognize this spirit within us, we shall love our fellow man, and if we love our fellow man, we shall attain all that our heart desires : we shall be happy. Scovoroda. 7. Only when man realizes how unstable and miser- able is the life of the body, will he realize all the blessedness that love can yield. 8. Material blessings and pleasures of all kinds are at- tained only at the cost of robbing others. Spiritual benefits and the blessing of love, on the other hand, are attained by increasing the happines of others. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 91 9. All our modern improvements, such as railways, telegraphs, and all kinds of machinery, may be useful for the uniting of people, and therefore for the hastening of the Kingdom of God. But the trouble is that men have be- come fascinated with these improvements and think that if they invent more and more machines they will hasten the Kingdom of God. This is as grievous an error as though a man were to keep plowing the same tract of land over and over again without sowing any seed. In order that all of these things be truly useful, men should perfect their soul, develop love. Without love, telephones, telegraphs, flying machines do not unite people, but on the contrary drive them further and further apart. 10. It is pitiful and absurd to see a man searching for something which is hanging from his own back. And it is equally pitiful and absurd for man to seek blessing without knowing that it consists of the very love which is implanted in his own heart. Do not look upon the world and the deeds of men, but gaze into your own soul, and you will find therein that bless- ing which you seek where it is not, you will find love, and having found love, you will see that this blessing is so great that he who possesses it will not crave anything else. Krishna. 11. When you are disheartened, when you are afraid of people, when your life has become a tangle, say to your- self : Let me cease to worry as to what will become of me, let me love all those with whom I come in contact, and let me be content, come what may. Just try to live like this, and you will see how all things will right themselves, and you will have nothing to fear or to desire. 12. Do good to your friends, that they may love you 92 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE still more. Do good to your enemies that they may become your friends. Cleobulos. ' 13. Just as all the water will escape from a vessel if there be a hole in its bottom, so all the joys or love will leave the soul of man if it contain hatred, though he hate but one person only. 14. Some say : "What is the sense of doing good to others if they render evil for good?" But if you love him unto whom you do good, you have already received your re- ward in your love to him, and you will receive a still greater reward if you bear in love that evil which he renders to you. 15. If a good deed is performed with some end in view, it is no longer a good deed. True love is when you love without knowing why or for what purpose. 16. People frequently think that if they love their fel- low men they have acquired merit before God. But the contrary is true. If you love your fellow men, you have not acquired merit before God, but God has granted you some- thing you did not deserve, the supreme blessing of life love. 17. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death." 1 John, III, 14. 18. Yes, the time will come, that very time will come soon of which Christ spake longing for it to come, the time will come when men will be proud not of having gained by force dominion over other men and the fruit of their labors, when they will rejoice not in arousing the fear and the envy of others, but will be proud of loving all men, and rejoice in cherishing that feeling of love which delivers them from all evil, in spite of all injuries that may be inflicted upon them by others. THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 93 19. There is a parable concerning love: There was once a man who never thought or cared for self, but always took thought and care for his fellow men. And the life of this man was so wondrous that the angels marveled at its goodness and rejoiced in it. And one of the angels said unto another: "This man is holy, and he is not even aware of it. There be few such men in the world. Let us ask him how we may serve him, what gift he desires that we may bestow upon him." "Let it be so," replied the other angel. And one of the angels, unseen and inaudible, but very clearly and plainly, said unto the saint : "We have seen your life and its saintliness, and we would know what gift we may bestow upon you. Tell us what you desire to relieve the needs of all whom you see and whom you pity? We can do so. Or would you have us grant you such power as to deliver others from pain and suffering, so that he with whom you have compassion shall not die before his time? This also is in our power. Or would you have all people in the world, men, women and children, love you ? We can do this too. Only tell us what your heart desires?" And the saint replied: "None of these things do I crave. It is for God to deliver men from his visitations ; from need and suffering, from pain and untimely death. And as for the love of people, I fear it, I fear that the love of the people might tempt me, might impede me in my one main concern to increase within myself love towards God and towards my fellow man." And the angels said: "Yes, indeed, this man is holy with true holiness and truly loves God." Love gives, but seeks nothing in return. SINS, ERRORS AND SUPERSTITIONS SINS, ERRORS AND SUPERSTITIONS Human life would be an unceasing source of blessings, if superstitions, errors and sins did not deprive men of the capacity of enjoying these blessings. Sin is an in- dulgence of bodily passions; errors are incorrect ideas of man's relation to the world; superstitions are false beliefs accepted as a religion. I. True Life is Not in the Body, But in the SpLit 1. When the plowman fails to guide the plow properly and it slips out of the furrow without picking up that which it should pick up, the Russian peasant terms this "sin." It is the same in life. Sin is when the man fails to guide his body in the right furrow and it slips and misses doing what it ought. 2. In their youth people who do not know the true aim of life, which is union through love, see their aim in the gratification of their carnal passions. It would not be so bad if this delusion remained a mental delusion; but the gratification of carnal passions defiles the soul, and the man who has defiled his soul through a life of indulgence loses the capacity of seeking his happiness in love. It is as though a man seeking pure water to drink were to defile the cup from which he intended to drink. 3. You wish to give your body as much pleasure as you can. But will your body live long? To care for the blessings of the body is like building a house upon ice. What joy, what security can there be in such a life? Will you not fear that sooner or later the ice will melt? That sooner or later you will have to leave your mortal body? 98 THE PATHWAY OF LIFE Move your house to firm soil, work on that which dieth not; improve your soul, free yourself from sins, errors and superstitions. Gr. Scovoroda. 4. The child is not yet aware of his soul and cannot find himself in the predicament of the adult, who hears two conflicting voices within, one saying : "Eat of it your- self," and the other "give him to eat who asks;" one says "avenge;" the other: "forgive." One says "believe what is told you," the other: "think for yourself."