Above Lifes Turmoil | Page 7

false with the true as to mistake the inward
promptings of his animal nature for those of the spirit of Truth.
A blind man left in a strange place may go grope his way in darkness,
but not without much confusion and many painful falls and bruisings.
Without discrimination a man is mentally blind, and his life is a painful
groping in darkness, a confusion in which vice and virtue are
indistinguishable one from the other, where facts are confounded with
truths; opinions with principles, and where ideas, events, men, and
things appear to be out of all relation to each other.
A man's mind and life should be free from confusion. He should be

prepared to meet every mental, material and spritual difficulty, and
should not be inextricably caught (as many are) in the meshes of doubt,
indecision and uncertainity when troubles and so-called misfortunes
come along. He should be fortified against every emergency that can
come against him; but such mental preparedness and strength cannot be
attained in any degree without discrimination, and discrimination can
only be developed by bringing into play and constantly exercising the
analytical faculty.
Mind, like muscle, is developed by use, and the assiduous exercise of
the mind in any given direction will develop, in that direction, mental
capacity and power. The merely critical faculty is developed and
strengthened by continuously comparing and analysing the ideas and
opinions of others. But discrimination is something more and greater
than criticism; it is a spiritual quality from which the cruelty and
egotism which so frequently accompany criticism are eliminated, and
by virtue of which a man sees things as they are, and not as he would
like them to be.
Discrimination, being a spiritual quality, can only be developed by
spiritual methods, namely, by questioning, examining, and analysing
one's own ideas, opinions, and conduct. The critical, fault finding
faculty must be withdrawn from its merciless application to the
opinions and conduct of others, and must be applied, with
undiminished severity, to oneself. A man must be prepared to question
his every opinion, his every thought, and his every line of conduct, and
rigorously and logically test them; only in this way can the
discrimination which destroys confusion will be developed.
Before a man can enter upon such mental exercise, he must make
himself of a teachable spirit. This does not mean that he must allow
himself to be led by others; it means that he must be prepared to yield
up any cherished thoughts to which he clings, if it will not bear the
penetrating light of reason, if it shrivels up before the pure flames of
searching aspirations. The man who says, "I am right!" and who refuses
to question his position in order to discover whether he is right, will
continue to follow the line of his passions and prejudices, and will not

acquire discrimination. The man who humbly asks, "Am I right?" and
then proceeds to test and prove his position by earnest thought and the
love of Truth, will always be able to discover the true and to distinguish
it from the false, and he will acquire the priceless possession of
discrimination.
The man who is afraid to think searchingly upon his opinions, and to
reason critically upon his position, will have to develop moral courage
before he can acquire discrimination.
A man must be true to himself, fearless with himself, before he can
perceive the Pure Principles of Truth, before he can receive the
all-revealing Light of Truth.
The more Truth is inquired of, the brighter it shines; it cannot suffer
under examination and analysis.
The more error is questioned, the darker it grows; it cannot survive the
entrance of pure and searching thought.
To "prove all things" is to find the good and throw the evil.
He who reasons and meditates learns to discriminate; he who
discriminates discovers the eternally True.
Confusion, suffering and spiritual darkness follow the thoughtless.
Harmony, blessedness and the Light of Truth attend upon the
thoughtful.
Passion and prejudice are blind, and cannot discriminate: they are still
crucifying the Christ and releasing Barabbas.
Belief, The Basis of Action
Belief is an important word in the teachings of the wise, and it figures
prominently in all religions. According to Jesus, a certain kind of belief
is necessary to salvation or regeneration, and Buddha definitely taught
that right belief is the first and most essential step in the Way of Truth,

as without right belief there cannot be right conduct, and he who has
not learned how to rightly govern and conduct himself, has not yet
comprehended the simplest rudiments of Truth.
Belief as laid down by the Great Teachers, is not belief in any
particualr school, philosophy, or religion, but consists of an altitude of
mind determining the whole course