London Lectures of 1907 | Page 7

the physical plane and denounce what you call psychism on the
others, because that is mere folly. If it is better to be blind here than to
see--and the Indian will tell you it often is, because it shuts out all the
distracting objects of the physical plane--if you are prepared to say that,
and say: "Yes, I would rather be blind than see," then you may go on to
denounce seeing on the astral plane. But if you value your physical
sight, why not value the astral sight--it is a stage higher--as well? and
the mental sight--which is a stage higher yet--as well? Why denounce
astral and mental, and praise up the physical? Why admire the power of
sight of the painter, who sees more shades than you can see, and
denounce the sight of the clairvoyant, who sees very much more than
the cleverest painter? They all belong to the object world; they all lead
the Self away from the realisation of himself, and they are all exactly
on the same level. It seems strange when one sees the same person
exalting the psychic on the physical plane and denouncing it on the
astral and mental.
But now let us turn to "spirituality" and see what that means. "The
Self-realisation of the One"; not the declaring that all men are one, that
all men are brothers: we can all do that. Anyone who has reached a
certain stage of intellectual knowledge will recognise the unity of
mankind; will say, with the writer in the Christian book, that God has
made all men of one blood--quoted again from what is called a Pagan
book. That intellectual recognition of the unity is practically universal
among educated people; but very few are prepared to carry out the
intellectual recognition into practical life and practical training. Now

for the development of what are called psychic faculties some amount
of retirement from the world is very useful. For the development of the
spiritual consciousness no such retirement is necessary. In fact, for the
most part, except in the earlier stages perhaps, seclusion is a mistake;
for the world is the best place for the unfolding of the sense of unity,
and best amongst men and women and children can we call out the
powers of the spiritual life. And that for a simple reason. In the lower
world the Spirit shows itself out by love, by sympathy; and the more
we can love, the more we can sympathise, the greater will be the
unfolding of the consciousness of the Self within. It was a true word of
the early Christian Initiate, that if a man loves not his brother whom he
hath seen, how shall he love God whom he hath not seen? And if the
perfection of the spiritual consciousness be that vision of the Supreme,
the consciousness which knows itself to be one with God, then the way
to the realisation will be by the partial realisation of loving sympathy,
for which the world is the most fitting field, and our brethren around us
the natural stimulus. Love, sacrifice, these are the manifestations of the
Spirit on the physical plane, as is right knowledge also. For the Spirit is
not a one-sided thing, but a Trinity, and knowledge is as necessary as
love. The special value of love lies in its unifying power, and in the fact
that it makes what the world calls sacrifice natural and delightful. You
know it in your own experience. Just in proportion as you love another
is it a joy and not a sorrow to give up things in order that the happiness
of the other may be increased. It is no sacrifice for a mother to give up
personal enjoyment for the sake of giving it to her children. A deeper
joy is felt in the happiness of the child than could possibly have been
felt in the enjoyment of the thing by herself; a sweeter, finer,
profounder happiness is the enjoyment of the happiness of the beloved.
And that a little widens out the consciousness, and hence family life is
one of the best schools for spiritual unfolding; for in the continual
sacrifices of the family life, springing from love and rendered joyful by
affection, the Self feels itself a larger Self, and reaches the sense of
unity with those immediately around. And after the family the public
life, the life of the community, the life of the nation: these also are
schools for the unfolding of the spiritual consciousness. For the man
who is a good citizen of the community feels the life of the community
as his own life, and so becomes conscious of a larger Self than the

narrow self of the family. And the man who loves his nation, his Self