developed condition. In the meantime, however, its actions may be governed by a sense of its importance as the medium provided by nature for the perpetuation of the human race, and therefore as an essential element in the progress of humanity towards intellectual and moral perfection. The recognition of the real nature of man leads to a perception of what should be the true aim of human life. The Universal Existence embracing all things must be perfect in itself, and display perfect harmony in the action of its forces or faculties. That which man ought to strive after, and which he must ultimately attain, is such a moral and intellectual perfection as is exhibited by the Divine Being from which he is an emanation. This can be effected only by a perfect life in all its relations, and particularly the observance of the true law of love, which requires that nothing pertaining to one's duty towards one's-self and one's fellowmen shall be neglected. This rule embraces all morality; not merely the lower, which has to do with man, but also the higher, which has relation to God, and which embraces, if it is not synonymous with, religion, as distinguished from theology. The sanction for both the active and the passive virtues is to be found in man's duty to himself as a child of God, and moral obligation may therefore be placed on the deeper basis of duty to God himself. The requirement is to live in strict accordance with the principles of man's nature, and as this is derived from God, His being may be said to supply the real test of moral conduct. The moral precept "be ye pure, as God is pure," i.e., "be perfect, as God is perfect," expresses that truth, and its observance constitutes the chief requirement of religion. In this we have the condition of holiness which is required to place the human soul en rapport with the Divine Soul. Communion with the Divine Being, is thus no doubt the necessary result or accompaniment of a condition of spiritual perfection. The closeness of communion will depend on the degree of "holiness," perfect harmony with God being possible only when perfect purity has been attained to; or, in other words, when the Divine nature in man has been perfectly developed, so far as this is possible under the limiting conditions of the human organism. What has been said as to passive morality is no less true in relation to the active virtues. As was stated above, however much these two phases of moral conduct may differ objectively, subjectively they have a common basis which is to be sought in the nature of man as derived from the Universal Existence. The "purity" which is so essential an element of the religious life, implies therefore a life of active as well as of passive virtue. That which has to be considered is the perfection of one's own being, and duty to one's-self, no less than that to our fellowmen as members of a common brotherhood, requires the practice of benevolence and the cultivation of the altruistic sentiment. This view is not inconsistent with the teaching of those who declare that actions are right because they "conduce to the well-being of mankind;" since no action can be for the moral benefit of the individual which has a tendency to injure others. Something more is required, however, than a criterion of morality such as is thus supplied.1 The ethical quality of actions has to be accounted for, and this can be done only by recognising that "morality is the product of the evolution of the divine idea in man under the conditions imposed by his present life, to be perfected only when man's higher being has proved itself victor in the conflict it is ever sustaining with the 1 See supra, vol. i. p. 6. malign influences of material existence." With the progress of the race in general culture those influences will become weaker and weaker, and the soul's faculties will gradually attain their full development and unerring exercise. At this epoch God in man will be constantly revealed, and the teachings of conscience will supply a perfect standard of right conduct. We have here the answer to those who object that no explanation can be given of what is meant by "moral perfection." This is the attainment by the human soul of the highest degree of internal illumination of which it is capable, accompanied by the complete performance of all the moral obligations which the laws of its nature require, for their own sake merely and without any reference to the pleasurable consequences attendant upon virtuous action. Possibly this perfection will never be attained by the race during the existence of man on this earth, and, if at all, it must be looked for in the future state of immortality, which the individual rather than the race is undoubtedly born to. INDEX. Abortion, practice of, among the Hin-Air, ideas as to the, entertained by dus, 225 Absorption into the divine essence, Absorption (mystical) of the soul, in Achemenes, the founder of the Persian Active virtues. [See Virtues (active)] Adrastea, transmigration considered as ordered by, 147. [See Nemesis] Adultress, excluded from Greek tem- Esthetic sense, development of, among Affection, in Positivism universal love, the ancients, 325, 326; trials by, in Akkads, the founders of the Baby- Alaya, the basis of all things, 285 Altruism, source of, according to Altruism and Egoism, combination of, Affection (family). [See Family Affec- Altruistic teaching of Confucius, 39; Africa, natives of, 8 Agathos, Mr Gladstone on, 117 Ahi, the serpent enemy of Indra, 246 in Christianity, 372 seq. Amautas, the priestly caste of Peru, Amazons and Griffins, Lajard on the secret associations of the, compared Amschaspands, office of the, 310, 320 Anabasis of the soul, 186, 319 Ancestors, children supposed to be Ancestral tomb, sacrifices at the, Animal life, objection to taking, in Animal Souls, origin of, according to Apathetic temperament of the Mexi- Apathy (moral) displayed by Buddhist Apocrypha, impurity of matter taught Apollo, the Griffin associated with, Apostles, dogmatism of the Christian, Apotheosis, doctrine of, in the Mys- Aquarius, Gate of, 184 Archimage, office of, in the Mysteries, Arhat, meaning of the title, 290; Aristotle, on the ruin of Sparta, 114; Artemis, the Griffin associated with, 330 Aryans (ancient) sacred character of the, 150; originally of but one caste, Ascent and descent of Souls, dogma Ascetism, practice of, by Buddhists, Ascetics, the religious, of India, 237 Askr, the primeval man of Teutonic Aspasia, social influence of, 11 Astarte, as the presider at the Mys- Atheism, supposed, of Gautama, 283 Athena, Ruskin on the mission of, Aulus Cluentius, reference to trial of, 93 Austerities, use of religious, by the Australia, aborigines of, 6 Bad, in Chinese Ethics equivalent to Bactria, religious movement in, 305 320; Christian doctrine of, 364 seq. Bastards, the rights of, among the early Greeks, 100; the Egyptians, 128 |