142 The Spiritual Life.
pollutinghis garments, forhe haswoventhem
of stuff that cannot be soiled. In the earlier
dayssometimes flight is wise, but it should be
recognised as what it is-weakness, and not
strength. And thosewho livethesolitarylife
are menwhowillreturn again to lead thelife
oftheworld,andhavinglearneddetachmentm
the solitary placeswillkeep thatpowerof de-
tachmentwhentheyreturn to theordinarylife
of men. Liberation, the freeing of the spirit,
thatconscious lifeof unionwith God which is
the markof theman become Divine, thatlast
conquestiswon m the world,it isnot won in
thejungleandthedesert.
inthisworld the spirituallifeisgraduallyto
bewon,andbymeansofthisworldthelessons
ofthespiritaretobelearned-butononecon-
dition. This condition embraces two stages:
first,the man does all that ought to be done
because it is duty. He recognises, as the
spiritual life is dawning in him, that all his
actions are to be performed, not because he
wantsthemtobringhim someparticularresult,
but because it is his duty to perform them-
easilysaid, buthowhardtoaccomplish! The
man needchange nothingin his lifetobecome
aspiritualman,buthemustchangehisattitude
tolife; hemustcease to askanythingfromit;
