Its Meaningand Method. 139
toolonghavebeencloudedbyadoctrineexactly
thereverse. Whenmanonce believes himself
Divine,hewillseektojustifyhisinnernature.
Nowthe method of the spiritual lifein the
fullestsensecannot, 1 franklyadmit,beapplied
totheleastdevelopedamongstus; forthemthe
veryfirst lessonisthatancient lesson: "Cease
todoevil." inoneofmyfavouriteUpanishats,
whenitspeaksofthestepswherebyamanmay
searchafterand findthe Self,the Godwithin
him,thefirst step,itissaid,isto "ceasetodo
evil." Thatisthefirststeptowardsthespiritual
hfe,thefoundationwhichamanmustlay. The
secondstep isactive: todo the right. These
aretwocommonplaceswhichwehearonevery
side,buttheyarenolesstruebecausecommon-
place,and theyare necessary everywhere and
mustberepeated until the evilisforsakenand
thegood embraced. Withoutthe accomplish-
mentofthese,thespirituallifecannotbebegun.
Andthen,astothelatersteps,itiswrittenthat
no man who is slothful, no man who isun-
intelligent,no manwho is lacking in devotion,
can find the Self. And againit is said that
:
"The Self isnot found by knowledge norby
devotion,but byknowledge wedded to devo-
tion." These are thetwo wings that lift the
manupintothespiritualworld.
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