The spiritual life

The Ceasing ofSorrow.^97

thesewearebiddentoseek"thebhssfulknow-

ledgeof theSelf." Let lifeseek life,and the

waytohappinessisfound: lettheselfseekthe

Self,andtheupwindingpathtopeacestretches

beforethewearyheart. Toseekhappinessby

unionwithformsistodwellamidthetransitory,

the limited,the clashing; toseek happinessby

unionwith Lifeis torestatpeace on the per-

manent,theinfinite,theharmonious.

Doesthissoundasthoughwewerestripping

our livesof joy and beauty, and setting them

lonelyin measureless depths of space? Nay,

what we love inour beloved is not the form

butthelife,notthebodybutthesoul. Clear-

eyedlovecanleap acrossdeathsabyss, across

birth'sLethe-stream,andfindandclaspitsown

unerringlythoughnewandalienformbecasket

forthejewel-soulitknows. Whenthisisseen

the cause of sorrow is understood, and long

practicebringsits certainremedy, forwe, our-

selveslife, not form, uniteour life to life, not

form,in our dear ones, blend more and more

as form after form is dashed in pieces by

the compassionate severity of a law that is

love, until we find ourselves not twain but

one, one also with the Life that is m and

around and through all, and, inseparate amid

the separated, we have put an end to pain.