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East-West
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East-WestVolume 18-1
July-August, 1946
The Form of God By "SIVA"
High Tension and Health By LILLIAN R. CARQUE
Self-Sacrifice of Evil By NICHOLAS ROERICH
Again - The Dragon's Teeth By ROBERT M. MacIVER
The Saint Who Ate -Yet Didn't Eat By PARAMHANSA YOGANANDA
Is Faith Enough By Paramhansa Yogananda
Quotes News Comments Symposium
Spheres of Science Poems Books India
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The Form of God
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The Form of God
By "Siva"
While instructing Western students, Paramhansa Yogananda has
often said thatsince God is in creation, as well as beyond it, He
can be worshipped as the DivineFather, Mother, Friend, or through
reverence for His consciousness as it shinesthrough some great
avatar, such as Jesus, Krishna or Buddha. This article showsthat
Eastern students are receiving from their teachers the same message
of unityand tolerance.
True Reality and the Paramatma are one. Though unqualified, He
is yet qualified; though Formless, Heyet possesses a Form.
Similarly though qualified, He is yet unqualified; and though
possessing a FormHe is yet Formless. Nothing can be said about Him
and yet all that is said refers to Him. Of course,whatever is said
does not describe Him fully. That which is perfect can in no way be
described. Yet theParamatma is not imperfect in any state;
therefore, even an incomplete description of Him becomes
adescription of the perfect, inasmuch as even His Parts are perfect
or equal to the whole. Seers, saints anddevotees worshipped this
very Paramatma through various sentiments.
The Supreme God, the embodiment of Sat (Truth), Chit (Knowledge)
and Ananda (Bliss) isthe Supreme Reality. Though beyond the
scriptures, He is yet full of the scriptures; though beyond
theuniverse, He yet permeates the universe. He pervades all, and
all is pervaded by Him, viz., the whole ofthis creation, moving as
well as motionless, rests on Him. The same Supreme Lord, who is
consolidatedknowledge and bliss, manifests Himself variously as
Brahma, Mahadeva, Mahavishnu (Preservation),Makasakti (Power), the
Lord of Saketa (Sri Rama), the abode of infinite bliss, and as the
Lord of Goloka--Sri Krishna, the ocean of ambrosial Beauty. All
these various forms are true and eternal. Althoughappearing as many
they are essentially one for all time.
The Devotee's Choice
The aspirant or devotee adopts for his worship, as something
essential, one of these--or any other Form
of the Lord according to his taste or sentiment; and it is quite
fitting that he does so. It is not possible toworship God through
many Forms at one and the same time. To compose and concentrate the
restlessmind, it is necessary to worship only one Form, Through
worship of many Forms the fickleness andchangeability of the mind
are liable to increase.
That is why a wise guru who possesses Divine vision, takes note
of the disciple's aptitude, attainments,qualifications and the
results likely to be achieved by him, instructs the latter in one
particular form ofworship, and gives him a suitable mantra (sacred
formula) through which he may worship the object ofhis
devotion.
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At the same time he tells the disciple that the God into whose
worship he has been initiated is the onlyGod, and that it is the
same God who is worshipped through various Names and Forms by
differentpeople in different climes and different ages.
Circumscribing God
None of these Forms is different in essence from the God you are
worshipping, and when there is nodifference, the question of
superiority and inferiority in relation to them cannot arise. Go
onworshipping the Form you have adopted but do not hate the Forms
which are worshipped by others norregard them as inferior in any
way. If you do so, you will be hating your own God and lowering Him
inyour estimation, inasmuch as it is the same God the object of
your worship--who is being worshippedby others through other
Forms.
Should you take it into your head that the Forms worshipped by
others, are different from your God, youwill be circumscribing and
thereby belittling your own Form and reducing Him to the position
of oneamong many Gods. He will no longer remain the Supreme One but
will be reduced to the position of aninferior God, like the
regional gods. Through such a "small" and "finite" God, you cannot
hope to reachthe Infinite. Thus, through your own fault you will be
deprived of the vision of the Supreme Creator.
Therefore, cultivate exclusive devotion to the object of your
worship, but at the same time honor otherForms as well, regarding
them to be so many manifestations of your own God. True
exclusiveness ofdevotion lies in regarding the other Forms as so
many different manifestations of the God you worship.To do
otherwise is to admit another God which is nothing short of
infidelity on the Part of a devotee. TheShastras proclaim that all
the different Names belong to the same God. It has been regarded as
a spiritualcrime to make any distinction between the Names of Siva
and Vishnu. "Vishnu is the very heart of Sivaand Siva the heart of
Vishnu", is a famous declaration of the Shastras. When it is a
crime to make anydistinction between even Siva and Vishnu, the
so-called devotees of Vishnu cannot perpetrate a greatercrime
against God than to recognize essential differences among the
conceptions of Vishnu, Hari, Rama,Krishna, and Narayana and thus
create a sense of distinction in the minds of aspirants among
theeternally true and pure Forms and Names of the same God.
In all humility, and with great emphasis, "Siva" requests all to
shake off such a belief and not to reposefaith in the words of a
preacher who may try to beguile them and create doubt in their
minds. Go onchanting with utmost faith and reverence the Names of
God regarding them all to be Names of the sameGod. Your spiritual
welfare will thus be assured.
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High Tension and Health By LILLIAN R
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High Tension and Health By LILLIAN R. CARQUE
All nature's children literally "take no thought for the
morrow." They must trusta higher power; man alone often refuses to
trust. Did you ever see flowersfume, fret, sigh and begrudge each
other's place in the sun? Serenely andunobtrusively, they slowly
open their souls to the sun and air. Seeminglywithout effort, they
unfold their pure and bewitching charms of beauty, grace,of
lingering fragrance and delicate colors. No anxious care bends
their heads;sweet harmony always prevails. The birds in the air,
too, are never "nervous."Majestically they wing heavenward to lofty
altitudes; they fly far above the lowlevel of human anxiety,
caroling their songs of praise.
Equanimity or Tension.?
A chief characteristic of the present day social and commercial
world is its hightension. Everybody seems keyed-up to the last
notch. People are living at afierce pace, and the pressure gauge of
life registers dangerously near thebursting point. High arterial
tension is intimately connected with numerousserious bodily
ailments and certain grave physical catastrophes.
One specialist defined high blood pressure types as "the
antithesis of the child."Refraining as they do from play or sports,
the child in them dies early. Theymust learn to acquire more of the
free play spirit, and the sportive hilaritywhich characterizes the
games and pranks of children. Such a person's mentalhorizon is
often narrowed within the range of a single objective, and this aim
ispursued with grim desperation. Yet the resulting state of
continuous tensionmay prevent the realization of that aim; and if
high blood pressure is present itmay prove to be just as fatal a
combination as gasoline and lighted matches.
Another heart specialist prescribed a "sense of leisure" as
indispensable to heartpatients who want to live. He had no
reference to idleness, but to untensedliving.
All those who attain a ripe old age free from heart disease have
one virtue in
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common, and that is equanimity --a habit of taking things for
what they arereally worth. They do not worry, grieve or become
excited more than areasonable conception of life warrants. Had many
an inmate in our asylumsknown how to relax and to play, he would be
enjoying mental health today. Itis a fundamental concept of all
mental experts that wholesome sanity ismaintained by a
well-balanced life where constructive work is intermingledwith
satisfying and recreating play.
The ripple of the clear mountain stream; the majestic fragrance
of the rose; thebeauty in the fiery colors of other flowers; the
nerve-tonic of a walk by theseaside or a hike in the mountains; the
free-gliding movements of the skier orskater; participation in song
or dance and games; creative work in some art orcraft; a social
hour with friends--all serve to break the spell of those enemies
ofhuman happiness.
The cells of your body may refuse to select sufficient amounts
of certainneeded elements from the blood--silicon for example. Can
your mental andemotional outlook be at fault?
As wealth and power are the Principal goals of unenlightened
human ambition,many consider the time not spent in their pursuit to
be lost. Yet the finaldenouement culminating the career of many a
great man in public life has beendirectly traced to an unsatisfied,
overweening ambition. The coup de grace mayfollow as a fatal heart
block, or stoppage, when an intense prolonged emotion--unmitigated
by intervals of rest and recreation-finally reaches a climax
ofsufficient intensity to paralyze the nerve control.
The Suggestible Stomach
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Thus all joyous
emotions that arenot foolishly excessive help to vitalize and
improve the organs and all of thevarious vital processes upon which
physical integrity, health and efficiencydepend. Have you not
observed the notoriously good digestion enjoyed bystomach sufferers
on a holiday?
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Foods ingested on such occasions with more or less impunity,
wouldprofoundly disturb their digestion at other times. For when
the Mind iscarefree, when good cheer, faith and hope dominate the
mental attitude andnervous system, the Stomach glands do their best
work and pour forth Copiousand abundant juices, strong in digestive
power. The stomach is probably
the most suggestible organ in the whole body, exceedingly
susceptible to theslightest changes in the mental state.
Selectivity in Cells
The average nutritionist does not generally attribute the
qualities of mind andlife to the mineral kingdom, but modern
science is rapidly moving forward tothis point of view. Some of the
more daring among scientific minds haveexpressed the opinion that
the desire and will, emotions and feelings, awarenessor
consciousness of the mineral atoms differ only in degree from those
of men.Indeed those latent states of consciousness prevailing in
minerals harmonizewith similar spiritual, mental, emotional-as well
as will--impulses inherent inindividuals harboring analogous
thoughts or feelings.
That is why the cells pick from the blood certain chemical
elements in greaterproportion than other chemical elements. Thus
there is greater cell selectivity ofsilicon from the blood in the
presence of mental attitudes that are lighthearted,credulous,
cheerful, playful, optimistic, laughter-loving, carefree,
nonchalant,unconcerned and sometimes heedless. People in whom
silicon is present inabundance are invariably charitable, kind,
good tempered and almost larks indisposition.
Silicon insulator of nerve sheaths, prevents a too rapid
radiation of bodily heatand electricity. The skin and the walls of
all cells contain an appreciableamount of silicon; it gives the
glossy finish to hair and the protective coveringto nails, teeth,
bones, nerves, also feathers and claws. In the vegetable
kingdom,silicon is combined with cellulose and forms the skin of
fruits and vegetablesand the outer coats of cereals, to diminish
the leakage of vital electricity sealed
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in foods. In peeling fruit and in demineralizing whole grains,
we lose most ofthe silicon.
Many diseases of the blood and nervous system can be traced to a
lack ofsilicon. It is often not so much a lack of silicon in the
diet, or failure toconsume silicon-rich foods, but rather a lack of
assimilative power for thiselement. The cells are powerless to
attract it, because the necessary spiritualthought-color rate of
vibration and kindred brain pulsations high in thecerebrum are
lacking. First and preeminently one should therefore cultivate
anattitude as carefree as that of an innocent child. For laughter
and light-heartedness are renowned as potent, though ludicrous,
therapeutic weapons inbreaking up the nervous tension of those
melancholic subjects of chronic fear.
Therapeutic Laughter
Laughter carries with it an irresistible propensity to dissipate
those oppressiveclouds of care, which darken the mental horizon. It
helps the afflicted one tosee the whimsical side of life, to view
with not a little ridicule his own smallmisfortunes, weaknesses and
foibles, as well as to overcome his critical attitudetoward others
by viewing other people's eccentricities with a modicum of
goodhumor. It enables the sufferer to grasp the absurdity of
ludicrous, incongruoussituations, to make sport of them by catching
and appreciating their wittyaspects.
Many chronic complainers and semi-invalids have been relieved of
allsymptoms and pain by learning to see the humorous side of
themselves, withouta welling-up and over of thoughts of self-pity,
and without becoming filled withweariness and with a sense of their
own futility. The moment we laugh offbitterness and wounded vanity,
we put aside our pride and dignity and nolonger feel hurt or
revengeful.
Hearty laughter is conducive to deeper oxygenation of the blood.
It is an easier,pleasanter and more natural way of insuring a
copious supply of oxygen, and iswithout the irksomeness of
conscious effort, which accompanies breathing and
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other exercises taken to produce the same effects. Laughter
empties the lungsand refills them with fresh air, accelerating the
circulation and strengthening theheart. The raising and lowering
excursions of the diaphragm, caused bylaughter, act strongly upon
the heart and lungs. The lungs are expanded andthoroughly
ventilated; the heart is stimulated and invigorated.
Laughter exercises the muscles of the face, neck, chest and
abdomen, andaffects favorably the glands, blood vessels and nerves
connected with themuscles involved; and laughter is a potent tonic
in releasing those hormones ofthe glandular system that increase
bodily vitality, impelling all life's processesto proceed at an
accelerated pace.
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Self-Sacrifice Of Evil
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Self-Sacrifice Of Evil
Even Villains Sacrifice To Their Ideal
By NICHOLAS ROERICH
Every step of constructive good calls forth also special
attention from the darkforces. We have often noticed that in daily
life the dark forces turn out to beeven better organized than the
forces striving toward Light-this is verydeplorable. At the time
when those who consider themselves servitors of theGood shamefully
permit themselves every kind of destructive disunion, thespiteful
entities act very unitedly and are well organized. This is a very
sadspectacle. but yet one may observe it rather often, beginning
from small everyday questions up to affairs of the State. And the
energy which is beingdeveloped by the dark forces sometimes even
leads them to a peculiar form ofself-sacrifice.
No doubt every one can recall a great many instances when an
evil-doer, aslanderer, a traitor, began to act even to his own
disadvantage, and yet, in thename of enacted evil, he could no
longer stop himself. He was ready to put hisreputation at stake, he
was ready to challenge the powerful enemy, he wasready to face
ridicule--only to continue the evil sowing, which he had
oncecommenced.
Limitations of Evil
The psychological reasons for such an apparently abnormal
manifestation, asthe self-sacrifice of evil, are difficult to
formulate. Of course, first of all, theyhave their roots in the
limitation of evil. Evil, after all, is always ignorant insomething
or other, and can never reach a high state of consciousness.
Themethods of evil are in the majority of cases rather primitive,
and sooner or laterthis circumstance must come to light; which is
by no means a self-consolationfor those who have been subjected to
the attacks of evil. It will be but theconfirmation of the
immutable law of limitation, and thus of the
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impracticability of evil.
But if one can speak of a self-sacrifice of evil, which even
risks its owndestruction in order to commit a crime or some evil
then how much bettershould the forces of good be organized in order
not to abase their neighbors andbrother-warriors! It would seem
that all fellow-travelers should automaticallybe considered
desirable friends. People very easily pronounce such words
as"friendship," "amity" and "cooperation." But all this in its very
essence is easilysubjected to the influence of evil.
Dangerous Praise
By way of self-consolation, it is said that this is not the
fault of the seekers forgood, but that of the zealous soldiers of
evil, who, as if by their resourcefulness,with much ingenuity,
sever the knot of cooperation. And when giving suchpraises to evil,
people do not realize at all what a disgraceful weakness
theyattribute to the potentiality of Good. For the acknowledgement
of the power ofevil is already the best praise.
Verily, the acknowledgement of the power and ingenuity of evil
already initself contains the potentiality of disintegration and
demeaning of Good. Insteadof trying in a fit of fear and cowardice
to vindicate oneself through declaringthe power of evil, would it
not be better to think how easily and naturally allgood strivings
may be applied for self-defense?
And the problem is not only in the self-defense of Good. Every
good is alreadyin itself active and fills the immeasurably far-off
space. If evil strikes andinfests the atmosphere, then Good is a
true healer and renewer of injuredtissues.
Heroes sacrifice themselves in pursuit of their ideals-but so do
villains!During times of world chaos the followers of evil
sometimes appear tosacrifice more to gain their ends than the
divided, disputative followersof Good.
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It would also seem quite natural that constructive Good should
be especiallysharpened and vigilant in the moments of the so-called
Armageddon-at thehour of attack of the dark forces. Yet we see that
at this hour, which is soimportant because of its consequences, the
good forces become permeated withunbefitting timidity, leaving the
field of action to the forces of darkness.
Allies of Evil
It is sad to see how not only the forces of darkness themselves
but also theirgreyish allies-lies and slander-sow weeds without
,any resistance from the sideof those who yet consider themselves
the guardians of Truth and Good It isdeplorable to see how these
deserters into the camp of darkness, without evenpondering over the
consequences, join the malicious sowers. It is strange, but atthat
moment their feelings of responsibility for the committed evil
becomecompletely atrophied. In their repulsive convulsions, these
volunteers of evil donot even care for their position, nor rank,
nor age only to sow theirdestructive seeds. It is incomprehensible
that the experience of age, not tospeak of the responsibility of
education, does not stop the liars and slanderers.And these
voluntary allies of evil shamelessly continue to list themselves in
theranks of esteemed and honored men.
Besides, the liar will not even go to the trouble of basing his
cunning deviceson facts, but on the contrary will by every
conceivable way hasten to evadesuch connections. Whenever
confronted with facts, he even falls into a state ofphysical
convulsion and trembles, seeing that his malicious machinations are
indanger of becoming disclosed. Perhaps, sometimes, the liar
himself does notbelieve in his innermost self, his own slander and
its obvious untruthfulness,but some inexpressible process compels
him to slide down the incline. Andthen his formulas of definition
become especially rich and before them thetimid hints of the
defenders of Truth often become pale. Fortunately, there aremany
who at least can find the courage to say: "Do not speak of what you
donot know! " For if to some one the measures of Good are not
clear, then at leasta clean, sound adherence to facts should be the
primary condition of humanstandards.
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Sins of Omission
It is also regrettable to observe another variety of volunteers
of evil, who oftendo not even support a lie in words, but who
silently rejoice. They do not eventry to warn the slanderer of the
consequences of his lie. On the contrary, bytheir quiet smiles they
encourage the doers of evil. Thus, between the consciousforces of
darkness and warriors of active Good, there is a legion of
volunteersof evil, who, in most widely varying degrees, secretly
assist and back theinfection of the atmosphere.
The discipline of spirit, the inherent consciousness of
responsibility which isinseparable from human existence, do not
worry these malicious evil-doers.One can give them no other name,
for they travel without any chosen path, andin their ignorant
licentiousness are ready to join in any destructive infection.
All these qualities are neither national, nor are they subject
to otherclassifications. These manifestations are purely
"all-human," and prove oncemore that the often forgotten ethics of
living are necessary first of all-beginningfrom the first days of
education.
Heroic Examples
Pondering over the self-sacrifice of the forces of darkness,
symptoms of whichpeople see so often, they should sooner or later
think of the practicability of thesame active self-sacrifice on the
part of the Good. The examples of wonderfulheroes are, it would
seem, sufficiently real. It would also seem that-not forabstract
and hazy, unreal problems, but for a true constructiveness these
greatsouls labored here on our earth, affirming their thoughts and
words by dailyincessant actions.
The history of the self-sacrifice of Good is indeed beautiful,
and by far morecomplete than casual and conventional encyclopedias
have yet had time torecord. Becoming saturated with these telling
examples, people--and mainly the
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younger generation--can so easily turn away from even the
unconscious supportof evil, as well as from closest cooperation in
malicious destruction. It is anold-known truth that children in
their first years usually respond easily to Good.
Shameful Facts
It is also usually true that the sad examples of the family
awaken in the child'ssoul for the first time a leaning toward evil,
and then, later on, activeparticipation in it. But now if in the
whole world the tension reaches its climax,if even the cosmic
forces respond to these destructive infections, then it isindeed
high time to become ashamed that the activity of evil has reached
astage of self-sacrifice. For the very definition of
"self-sacrifice" in connectionwith evil should awaken, even in very
ignorant people, the desire for similaraction in the name of
constructive Good.
Evil's connection with self-sacrifice is indeed a serious
reproach to humanity!After the terrific effects of the atomic bombs
it became very fashionable todeclare that atomic energy will be
used solely for "beneficial" purposes. Let itbe so! Nevertheless,
in the memory of mankind forever will remain a shamefulrecollection
that the highest energy was first brought to the Earth
fordestruction.
Everybody is fully aware that those billions of dollars would
never have beenspent for educational and beneficial purposes! But
will it not turn once againinto the self sacrifice of evil? -Jins
helping to construct Temples?
Maynard Hipley, in his Principles of Electricity, says: "Several
eminentphysicists are now specializing on the problem of how to
liberate and controlintra-atomic energy for man's uses- or
abuses.
"Bearing in mind the present intellectual, moral and economic
status of our'leaders of thought' and remembering that one pound of
common soil containsintra-atomic energy equal in destructive power
to more than a million tons ofdynamite, let us hope that the secret
of releasing and controlling intra-atomic
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energy will not be discovered in our day and age."
Indeed, let us hope that eventually out of the greatest evil
will come the highestGood.
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Again -- The Dragon's Teeth
Post-War Note on the Fruits of Intolerance
By ROBERT M. MacIVER
There was a French philosopher and sociologist who said: "All I
owe to you, Iowe to myself. What I do for you, I do for myself.
What I do against you, I doagainst myself." These words contain the
core of the lesson we must seek tolearn.
The greatest peril of modern society is the exclusiveness of
group againstgroup, in which the stronger groups shut out the
weaker from sharing thebenefits and opportunities of the
commonwealth, in which the stronger growproud and hard and
intolerant and prejudiced, depriving their commonhumanity, in which
the weaker groups grow bitter and frustrated. So that on allsides
rancor increases, and the energies of men are turned from
creativeness todestructiveness, from cooperation and gain to
universal loss. And theconsummation of this evil thing is here
before our eyes, the final inhumanity ofman to man.
Let us ask ourselves; What have the intolerant gained from their
intolerance?What have the persecutors reaped after the persecution?
They have gained themost terrible of all retributions, such ruin
upon ruin as has never been visited ona country since civilization
began. What they did against all groups but theirown, they did
against themselves. The same law holds, though it may wait itstime,
though the persecutors may triumph for a season. Hatred breeds
hatred asfear breeds fear. Men sow the dragon's teeth, and the
dragons at last arise anddevour them.
Our Spotted Record
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But let us not look only at Europe, where the dragons have
finished their job.Let us look at ourselves. We, too, as a people,
as men and women, are guilty.We, too, practice the exclusiveness of
the grout); we, too, discriminate,discriminate grossly; we, too,
reject difference and deny it equal rights. We,too, sow the dragon
seed.
Even when we fight against its fruits we are fostering their
growth. The evil iswidespread among us. In every part of this land
there is prejudice and strongintolerance, and on the other side
there is frustration and there is fear. TheJewish people suffer
much from it. The Negro suffers grievously. Many othergroups suffer
in varying degree. There is perilous indoctrination, there
ispernicious propaganda. It is not confined to the rabble of Silver
Shirts andCough-linists and their kind. It flourishes in the most
respectable quarters.
Sometimes it is soft and insidious and whispering, sometimes it
is loud-voiced.
Complacent "Respectability"
Can we bring home to them, to the respectable, to the
complacent, the lesson ofEurope? Can we teach them that they, too,
in their respectability and in theirpride, are guilty? Can we teach
them to see something that touches themselves?Can we ever teach
them to say as they look on the ravagers of Europe, what agood
Scottish divine said when he saw a criminal led to the scaffold,
"There,but for the grace of God, go I? "
We should seek to make this an object-lesson in a great
campaign. There arestrong forces on our side, too. The
anti-discrimination law of New York state isa splendid
achievement.* Similar laws are in effect in a number of states,
andare being considered in others. But we must attack on other
fronts as well. InEurope, a spirit of intolerance and
discrimination brought destruction upon itsperpetrators. Yet even
as we fought to burn away the evil growth of hatredthere, we
continued to sow the seeds of hatred here and still do! In
theseexcerpts from a speech by Robert MacIver, a Columbia
University Professor,(reported in NOW) the query is put: "Can we
bring home the lesson of Europe?
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"
Above all, we must attack on the educational front. In the last
resort we musttrust to social education, and we must muster our
forces to reform oureducation everywhere to this end, in the school
and in the home and in thechurch and in the exclusive club. We
should and we can maintain a greatcontinuous educational assault
upon the forces of darkness.
There is urgent need for it. We have never tried it. Now is the
time. There isanother and even harder victory to win, a victory of
the mind not of the sword.For this fight we have never yet formed
our ranks.
We shall be fighting for the truth, for the brotherhood of man,
for the well-being and the unity of our land. If we keep these
banners before us we shallconquer in the end.
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THE BHAGAVAD GITA
The Saint Who Ate -- Yet Didn't Eat
Chapter III, Stanza 27
Literal Translation:
The attributes (gunas) of primordial Nature (Prakriti)perform
all activities. A man with his soul delusivelyidentified with
egotism, thinks he is the doer of all actions.
Interpretation:
The delusion-drunk egotist deems himself as the doer of
allactions. He knows not that all activities are instigated bythe
attributes of primordial Prakriti.
God created Nature. It manifests the attributes of
Godcamouflaged by delusion. Man is the product of invisibleGod and
visible Nature; therefore he is dual: the immanent,hidden, pure,
spiritual soul and the exterior physical manequipped with the
specific brain, mind, life and moodsgoverned by the attributes of
Nature. The variety ofcreation-animals without free will and man
with freechoice, and yet limited by Nature or mass Karma-showsthat
various differing attributes of Nature have created
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animal and human nature-brutish and human behaviorisms.These
have created fixed habits which govern man,animals and plants. The
average man lives sixty years. Aman's birth, growth, marriage,
procreative and mentallycreative aspirations, his specific brain
and mind and life,are different from the behaviorism of a dog that
barks andwags its tail and lives from twelve to twenty-four years,
ora redwood tree which stands still, only occasionallyswaying with
the wind, and may live as long as sixthousand years.
So man dwells on the apparent differences between himselfand the
rest of creation, and forgets that his activity andthat of all
other manifestations come from a commonsource. As the
body-identified Ego, man forgets that thesoul working through
Nature's attributes is the real doer.
The above does not mean that man has no free will. In fact,by
disengaging his mind from the senses, man can identifyhimself with
his soul and know that It, rather than the Ego,is the real
performer of all actions. For man's soul has beenendowed with free
will, even as the animal soul has beenallotted only the guidance of
instinct.
Nature Modified by Karma
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An awakened soul realizes that all his human qualities
arecreated by God and governed by the confining attributes
ofNature, an thus refuses to let his body-engrossed Ego deemitself
as the doer of all actions. It is also true that a man, byexercise
of free will wrongly or rightly creates specifickarma, which
modifies the influence of mass orenvironmental karma ordained by
Nature. By good karmaor actions approved by Nature (natural living)
and theperfect God, man ascends toward perfection and liberation;by
evil action he descends and becomes trapped in themeshes of
material desires.
Of course, the body-bound ego-tist cannot ascend because,devoid
of true wisdom, he deems himself the doer of allactions and thus
creates more entangling human desires.Hence the Gita, in the above
stanza, points out that eachdevotee should analyze himself and find
out whether he isliving according to the upward evolutional
influence ofNature, or the higher Divine soul impulses, or only by
hishuman nature, distorted by prenatal and postnatal effects ofevil
actions manifesting through his habits, moods andinclinations. When
the sunshine of wisdom breaks upon thedark egotist, he realizes
that the soul is the performer of alltrue actions, and not his
fanciful individuality.
Two Influences
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The human machine has many parts--cerebrum,cerebellum, spinal
plexuses--they are all instigators ofdifferent forms of activity.
The nose, eyes, ears are external- instruments, while the brain is
the vehicle of thoughts andinner faculties. Mind has a hundred
functions andintelligence has six: jealousy, fear, hate, greed,
anger,attraction, repulsion, egotism, delusion, pain,
pleasure,shame, sense of delicacy, envy, pride, repentance,
worry,pity, delusion, illusion, memory, contentment, hope,
desire,etc., - belong to the mental clan. While calmness,
life-control, self-control, power to refrain from evil impulsesand
power to act according to good inclinations areattributes of
wisdom.
When man is influenced by the attributes of mind, he
issusceptible to pleasure and pain, heat and cold. But whenguided
by the intuitive perception of the soul, he findshimself swirling
no more in the eddies of psychologicalrelativities but safe on the
shore of eternal Bliss. In otherwords, the egotist, conceiving
himself as the doer ofactions, makes a tragedy out of the drama of
life. But bydeep meditation he may awaken and suddenly realize
thathe has been assigned, by the Cosmic Director, a specifichuman
part to be played on the stage of time. Having
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become a wise man, he is happy to play out his joyous ordoleful,
superior or inferior, part just to please God, and nothis ego,
which once falsely imagined itself as the doer ofall actions.
The soul, mind, body, brain, senses, the world, the Cosmos--all
are creations of Spirit, and so the wise man, notconceiving himself
as the architect of his good or baddestiny, does not laugh or cry
or disturb himself with theups and downs of dualities as the
ego-intoxicated worldlyman does. An egotist is never satisfied,
whether he is rich,poor, healthy or king of the world. A divine man
is happyin a cell or in a king's palace.
The helpless kitten, being dependent on the mother cat, isstill
contented when transferred from a king's palace to thecoal bin, for
the latter might be a safer place. So, the Yogisurrendered to God
does not mind being a King or adestitute individual, according to
Divine ordinance.
Krishna and the Cheese
When Krishna was among his devotees in Brindaban, India,he
resided on the other side of the river Jamuna. HisGopinis
(shepherdesses) devotees often fed him with freshcurds, which he
eagerly relished. Once the banks of the
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river were flooded. Boats were swept away. The devoteesof
Krishna, laden with their offerings, could not get to theirMaster.
As they hesitated there, they saw the great sageByasa sitting near
the riverbank, his face gleaming, withKrishna-intoxicated eyes.
Realizing him to be a man ofmiracles, the Gopinis approached him
and requested hishelp in reaching their Master.
"You want to give cheese to MY Guru Krishna, but whatabout poor
me?" he asked. So they set the offering beforeByasa. And he ate and
ate, until the devotees began toworry. There seemed scarcely enough
left for the LordKrishna.
After he was filled with cheese, Byasa cried, "Jamuna, if Idid
not eat anything, divide and part." The Gopinis were indespair, for
this strange request sounded facetious under thecircumstances. But,
to their increasing astonishment, theriver obeyed. Still not
understanding Byasa's paradoxicalexclamation, the Gopinis crossed
along the path betweenthe two walls of water, which crumbled and
closed afterthem.
But they did not find Krishna coming to greet them as
usualexpectant of the cheese. He was soundly sleeping!
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They wakened him, but he looked at the cheese withoutinterest.
"Master, what is the matter today?'' they asked."Do you not crave
curds today?"
Krishna smiled sleepily and replied, "0 that fellow Byasa,on the
other side of the river, has already fed me too muchcheese."
Then the Gopinis understood that Byasa, while eating thecheese,
was conscious only of his all-pervading GuruKrishna, as the one who
ate, and not of his individual ego.
Spirit Permeates Actions
If all souls could feel God in all their actions even as
Byasadid, they would be free from all mass and individual effectsof
actions (karma), for they would perform all activitieswhile guided
by divine wisdom, and not by reincarnatingdesires of egoism. To
understand this stanza of theBhagavad Gita one must live it in
every-day life bythinking of God during the commencement,
performance,and end of all actions. Ego-consciousness is the root
causeof all human sorrows. Performing all actions with God
-consciousness neutralizes all inner and outer calamities.
In reality, the true Self in man, being the Image of Perfect
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Spirit, is beyond actions and all effects even as Spirit
isbeyond all karma even though the active universe evolvedout of
It. All activities of Nature evolve out of God and yetHe is not
attached to them; hence He does not suffer fromeffects of actions.
A perfect man being made in the imageof God behaves like Him and
does not stiffer from Karma,while an ignorant man identifies his
soul with the good andevil attributes in actions. Such a man deems
himself thebody-bound ego--the doer of all actions-and thus
becomesenmeshed in the webs of karma.
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Is Faith Enough
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Is Faith Enough?
By PARAMHANSA YOGANANDA
Steps Toward the Attaining of the Consciousness
Which was in Christ Jesus
"And Jesus answering saith unto them, have faith in God.For
verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say untothis mountain,
Be thou removed, and be thou cast into thesea; and shall not doubt
in his heart, but shall believe thatthose things which he saith
shall come to pass; he shallhave whatsoever he saith. Therefore I
say unto you whatthings soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe
that yereceive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye
standpraying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that
yourFather also which is in heaven may forgive you yourtrespasses,
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Fatherwhich is in
heaven forgive your trespasses." -Mark 11:22-26.
And then Jesus reminded his disciples of the limitlesspowers of
will and faith-when guided by
Intuitive communion with God. "Find God within you bymeditation
and ecstasy, for verily I say unto you, thatwhosoever has God
communion can, by his will power
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create vibrations so potent that even a mountain might
beuprooted and cast into the sea. Those who have suchcommunion can
never doubt that the almighty power ofGod resides in their hearts.
And so the devotee who reallycommunes with God knows that whatever
he wishes willbe fulfilled-will materialize -and whatever he says
willcome to pass."
However, Jesus made it clear that such gifts are given toman
only after he has experienced God communion, andhas changed his
status from that of a deluded man to that ofdivine sonhood. Even
then, the devotee must take care tobelieve - to be certain - that
whatever he desires as heprays, is even then coming to him through
the almightypower of God-then he shall receive it.
Cleansing Mind and Heart
Furthermore, one must have a cleansed mind and a lovingheart
when seeking to commune with God. It is not fittingto pray-or to
meditate-with hatred in one's Consciousness.If one forgives anyone
who has offended him, then theomniscient Father, the Cosmic
Consciousness which ispresent, though invisible, and which enfolds
the devotee ashe prays, will also forgive the petitioner's
spiritual offenses.But if the omniscient Father finds an
unforgiving attitude
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toward those who have offended His child, then He,likewise, may
withhold forgiveness for that child's ownspiritual sins.
Thus Jesus spoke of the law of cause and effect whichgoverns all
our actions; but he said that the law of conductshould not be
tempered by justice alone, but by forgivenessand love. The wise
devotee must heed Jesus' plea. Don't tryto give punishment to a
person who has offended you--evenif you are sure that he justly
merits it. Try to forgive himbecause he is your brother, made in
the image of God. You,too, are responsible for many offenses toward
God andman. But if your omniscient Father finds that you, as one
ofHis sons, forgive an offending brother, then He will relaxthe
inscrutable law of cause and effect which governs allhuman actions,
and will forgive some of your spiritualoffenses, even as you
forgave your errant brother.
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Quotes
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Quotes
The highest compact we can make with our fellow is, letthere be
truth between us two forevermore. It is sublime tofeel and say of
another, I need never meet, or speak, orwrite to him; we need not
reinforce ourselves, or sendtokens of remembrance; I rely on him as
on myself; if hedid not thus or thus, I know it was
right.-Emerson.
For The Week By PARAMHANSAYOGANANDA
July 7th. Divine Mother, help me to cut through the
silkenthreads of false sense pleasures and spread the wings of
mysoul in repeated efforts to reach Thee.
July 14th. Through daily meditation I shall prepare for
thatbright morning when I first behold my longed-for
spiritualflower of Realization.
July 21st. Even one good habit, formed today and practicedevery
day, will hasten my progress on the spiritual path.
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July 28th. Let me become an example of spiritual health,Heavenly
Father, that my presence may strengthen thosewho are spiritually
weak.
August 4th. In me is the seat of all knowledge; and as theInner
light increases I shall find it--and finding it, I shallfind
Thee.
August 11th. As I work for Thee each day this week,Beloved Lord,
I shall give each little task my full attention,that I may complete
them proficiently, one by one.
August 18th. My thoughts are mental magnets which drawunto
themselves the people and objects with which they areattuned.
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August 25th. Through difficult daily lessons my DivineMother is
teaching me that material habits attract materialthings, while
spiritual habits attract spiritual things.
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INDIAN Citizenship
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INDIAN Citizenship
In an open letter to the committee on immigration of the U.S.
Senate, 52prominent America's urged that hearings be held on two
bills, passed by thehouse last year, to Permit Filipinos and
natives of India to become Americancitizens. Signers of the open
letter include: Van Wyck Brooks, Donald OgdenStewart, Monsignor
John Montgomery Cooper, Dr. Bela Schick, Bishop HenryW. Hobson and
Robert W. Kenny. The open letter, in addition to requestinghearings
on the two bills, voices support for the elimination of all
racialProvisions in the immigration and naturalization laws.
SRF MINISTER
Dr. M. W. Lewis, formerly of Boston, Massachusetts, is now a
full-fledgedminister of the Self-Realization Fellowship. Paramhansa
Yogananda is happyto announce that Dr. Lewis--who was one of the
first Americans to become hisstudent and friend - has now moved to
our California Headquarters and isgiving his full time to the work
of the organization. At present, Reverend M.W. Lewis is conducting
meetings at the Golden Lotus Hermitage in Encinitas.
Concerning Education
Few People realize that 62 percent of the world's population
cannot read. Dr.Frank Lauback has estimated that 70 percent of
China, 88 percent of India 90Percent of the Moslem world, 95
percent of the East Indies and 98 'percent ofAfghanistan, Iran,
Irak, Turkestan and Arabia are illiterate.
* Progress! Because of a resolution passed by the N. Y. State
Legislature,existing school curricula in that state will be
reoriented and revised so thatintercultural education is fully
integrated into school work and activity on everygrade level, and
in every subject area; understanding and appreciation of the
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contributions of minority groups will be fostered, and the
scientific facts andhistorical factors in regard to the various
divisions of the human race will betaught.
Ignorance-Barrier to Progress: When representatives of the
League ofWomen Voters in a Southern City asked a hundred women
picked atrandom on the main streets of the city, "What do you know
aboutDumbarton Oaks?" half replied they had never heard of it; one
thought itwas some new kind of breakfast food but was not certain;
another said, "amovie actress I guess."
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EAST-WEST Comments
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EAST-WEST Comments
Mme. Galli-Curci sent me a copy of East-West containingreview of
my book and pictures on inside back cover. Thisis a swell display
and I thank you for the nice analysis youmade, also for the
beautiful tribute by ParamhansaYogananda.--C. E. LeMassena.
"Kindly send to the above address your magazine for oneyear. If
you have a copy of the April 1944. I would greatlyappreciate having
it. Read it in the Public Library and wasgreatly impressed with
it."-L. L.
"This is the best magazine published in this world.--G. H.D
"I have found the most striking and enlighteninginterpretations
of the Bhagavad Gita in the East-WestMagazine. I spend all my time
with these magazines, as Iwould with my dearest friends. . . . I
sincerely believe thatthe interpretations by Paramhansa Yogananda
are aboveanything that I have ever read before. Accept my
gratitudefor all that you have done for me.-M. D.
Your touch seems so full of depth. East-West is veryrevealing
and leads to the higher plane of thought, and Ilike to see it
unravel before my very eyes. Inclosed is one
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dollar for the renewal of my subscription. -B. S.
I am finding the magazines just what I wanted. They aremy only
outside contact with "one who knows." I neededthe food suggestions
to help with my problems in disciplineand I am getting far more
than you can possibly realizefrom many articles. They are a mass of
seed-stimulatingideas.-T. N.
Thank you for the lovely letter of January 22nd and theextra
copy of the quarterly magazine. I appreciate it verymuch and I do
enjoy the articles and interpretations. Thereis something about the
little magazine that is verysatisfying.-C. K.
Prayer Conquers Space
When you need peace, solace, inspiration, relief from
pain,disease fear, the solution to a problem, or greater success
inyour periods of mediation, tune with us. ParamhansaYogananda's
meditation period for such work is from 9-11A.M. (PST). Group
meditations are held in the Mt.Washington Estates Chapel every
week-day morning at8:15 and evening at 7:30 (PST). Saturday there
is a specialsilence period from 8-10 P.M. Written requests for
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EAST-WEST Comments
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assistance through prayer receive the attention OfP2rarrhansa;i
and also that of disciples and advancedstudents.
Let us know if you are successful in receiving help withyour
problems through attunement with us. You are alsowelcome to write
or wire us for assistance through prayer.(Address: Prayer Council,
Self-Realization Fellowship,3880 San Rafael Ave., Los Angeles 31,
Calif.)
I think I am improving all the time. I do not have to get upat
night but once or twice so I get good rest. My hands andfeet swell
up some but not so often. I thank you for yourhelp and enclosed
please find a love offering.-F. L. R.
. . I was at an Encinitas meeting and I asked Paramhansajito
help me with my throat, which was bothering me. It wasgreatly
relieved.-M. S,
The night before I went for this examination I asked God asI
meditated that he would show the doctor what was wrong.I have been
treated for everything under the sun for so longand I've had to
take sleeping pills as I couldn't sleep. Sincethe correction has
started I am resting well. So I ameternally grateful that the
doctor found the trouble and thatI am going to be healed without
surgery. I have been told
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EAST-WEST Comments
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by people who know that surgery is almost always used incases
like this. I am glad that it is no worse and I thank youall for
your prayers and help.-Mrs. M. L. C.
I thank you very much for your kind help and cooperation.There
is much improvement in my material and spiritualconditions since I
began to use your Horn of Plenty Bank.-Mr, J. E.
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Symposium On
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Symposium On
Rules for Self-Improvement
Get thy spindle and distaff ready. God will send the flax.-Old
English Proverb.
Not what I have, but what I do, is my kingdom.-Carlyle.
To teach is to learn twice. -Joubert.
Of all the duties, the principal one is to acquire the knowledge
of the Supreme Soul; it is the first of allsciences for it alone
confers on man immortality.-Manu.
By self-resolve alone can one enter the Path of the Inner Life.
-Pravaka.
The wise aim at perfection. The foolish aim at wealth.-Ali ibn
abu Talib,
He who knows himself, knows his God.-Koranic Verse.
The great man is not a mere receptacle. What he first says, as a
result of his experience, he afterwardfollows up. The great man is
catholic-minded, and not one-sided. The common man is the
reverse.-Confucius.
Faults in a superior man are like eclipses of the sun or moon:
when he is guilty of a trespass men all seeit; and when he is
himself again, all look up to him.-Tsze-kung.
Rouse thyself by thyself, examine thyself by thyself; thus
self-protected and attentive wilt thou livehappily.-Dhammapada.
According to the Proverb, the best things are the most
difficult. -Plutarch.
Perseverance is more prevailing than violence- and many things
which cannot be overcome when theyare together, yield themselves up
when taken little by little.-Plutarch.
The things we have determined wholeheartedly to do are not
fulfilled merely by desire, but throughpainful toil.-Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.
I have heard the saying: He who fit-ids instructors for himself
comes to the supreme domination; he whosays that others are riot
equal to himself comes to ruin.-The Analects CCS 1.
The disciple Kung-tu said: "All are equally men, but some are
great men and some are little men. How isthis?"
Mencius replied: "Those who follow that part of themselves which
is great are great men; those whofollow that part which is little
are little men.-Mencius CCS II.
Do not keep perniciously to your own ideas. Do not study to be
uniform. Be scrupulous, yet gentle. Belarge-minded like space,
whose four terminating points are illimitable and form no
particular enclosures.Hold all things in your love.-Kwang-tzu.
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Want of harmony in the outer life rises from the want of it in
one's inner self; strive to beharmonious.-The Shu King.
He whose mind inclines not toward zeal, exertion, perseverance
and struggle, he has not become freefrom spiritual barrenness.
-Ketokhila Sutta (Buddhism).
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there
is one rascal less in theworld.-Carlyle.
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Spheres of Science
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Spheres of Science
SCIENCE OF THE WHOLE INDIVIDUAL
In a radio talk which he gave during an intermission in a
Philharmonic concertDr. Ernest A. Hooton, Harvard's iconoclastic
anthropologist, pleaded for "ascience of the individual man that
will teach us our physical and mentalcapacities and limitations
early in life, so that we can profit from thatknowledge."
"Every single person is born with an unique combination in
details ofanatomical structure, peculiarities of physiological
function, variations inmental capacity, and assorted temperamental
traits," says Hooton. This mass ofinherited potentialities is then
developed or stunted by all of life's experiencesfrom infancy to
maturity-food, housing, parental care, family life, climate,human
associates, formal education. The individual is an organic unit,
withaspects of his total personality all mixed up. None of these
can be understoodwithout a knowledge of the whole person and of his
background. "At presentwe learn separately about human psychology
or physiology or the structure ofthe family, but nothing about the
whole individual self," is Hooton's way ofputting it.
A science of the total man would give each individual early in
life a completeinventory of his unique self so that he could
correct as far as possible, hispersonal weaknesses, capitalize his
strong points, and seek a place in humanactivity that he is fitted
to fill. Hooton maintains that "such a science can bepromised to
you today, if you will only demand it as your right, as
thecornerstone of your education."
In the individual we are first concerned with anatomical
structure of body build.
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Here Hooton holds up for admiration the work of William H.
Sheldon, who hasdevised a satisfactory scheme for classifying all
varieties of the humanphysique. Peculiarities of the body and its
general form often reflect invisibletraits that are far more
important than skin, bone, muscle, cartilage, or otherstructural
features. We are beginning to learn that the physiology of
theindividual also varies rather closely with his body type.
Rating temperament
In this field, again, William H. Sheldon has devised a scheme of
temperamentalrating which will serve for the present and which is
related to varieties of bodybuild. Thus the extreme of physique
represented by the tall, narrow, skinnyperson is associated with a
cluster of some twenty trait tendencies including"love of privacy,"
"emotional restraint," "hypersensitivity to pain," "need ofsolitude
when troubled," etc. Hooton says that close enough relationships
canbe established between physique and personality traits so that
eventually bodybuild may be used as a shortcut to personality
analysis. In fact, he maintainsthat if physical, mental and
temperamental characteristics are known it ispossible to predict
within certain limits fitness for various tasks, ability
inperformance under different conditions-in short, the quality of
behavior.
Heredity imposes certain limitations upon change and improvement
of thepersonality, so that "human brass cannot be transformed into
gold," yet Hootonis certain that "most persons can be built up to a
higher level of competenceand self-sufficiency if they are studied
individually and properly trained beforethey are warped and
hardened by mistakes in education and bad environment."But 11 we
must catch our subjects young." -W. K. in N. Y. Times.
Tomorrow's World
* Hikers will be able to purify water (without adding odor or
changing taste)through use of filter .125 of an inch thick. Canteen
is filled with water,chlorinating pellets dropped in to kill
bacteria, and filter placed in position.
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When canteen is raised for a drink water flows through filter,
activated carbonin filter removes unpleasant taste while fibrous
felt surrounding it holds backforeign matter. One filter will
purify 2 1/2 gallons of chlorinated water.
* Workmen who need hands free to use tools in dark corners may
wearFingalyte, a tiny electric torch worn like a finger ring;
derives current throughinsulated cable from battery clipped to
belt.
* Eggs roasted at high temperatures (look and taste like
hardboiled) can be keptindefinitely without refrigeration. Boston
egg dealers have developed nickel-inslot machine which delivers
roasted egg.
* We have mentioned revolving windows (E-W, Jan. '46); another
idea is glassstrips arranged a la venetian blinds. Will not raise
or lower but may be angledto admit air; closed tightly to exclude
cold and rain. Lower louvers may beopaqued for privacy.
* Motor oil now being tested is claimed to be "ever-enduring."
Will cost morebut replacement will be negligible since screening
occasionally will clear outany sludge.
* Classrooms may obtain new multiple microscope which permits 10
persons toview slide, simultaneously.
* Some women will be strutting about in coats of Ordinary sheep
pelts, whichhave been transformed by a new plasticizing process so
that they are almostindistinishable from luxury furs such as beaver
and nutria.
Trackless trolley, already in use in about 5o U. S. cities, is
being improved andnow resembles roomy, ultra-modern bus. Is slated
to supersede street car,where regular bus does not do so, since it
is faster (can weave in and out oftraffic), more comfortable,
quiet, and cheaper, it costs $100,000 a mile, to builddouble track
street car rails, only $7,000 a mile to install trackless
trolleyoverhead wires.
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Health Front
Buttercup Juice. The growth of pneumonia, streptococci, tb,
anthrax andseveral other germs can be stopped by juice pressed from
buttercup leaves,sterns and, blossoms, or by steam distillate of
juice. Anemone juice givessimilar results! Present problem is
separating poisonous from antigermsubstances.
Retrieving Swallowed Objects: An alnico magnet (an alloy) is
strong enoughto lift 100 times its weight. Will attract iron and
steel objects. Can be passedinto stomach attached to rubber tube
which has bulb at outer end. Whenstomach is filled with air, any
collapsed portion is lifted and foreign bodyfreed, and attracted to
magnet. Said to be much simpler and quicker than oldmethod
involving use of flexible forceps.
How Cold Germs Spread: Now science has measured the velocity of
a cough!It has been charted at more than 245 miles per hour as it
leaves the throat.
Aspirin Changed- For the minority who cannot use the common
aspirin tabletWithout ill results, Prof. K. P. Link (U. of
Wisconsin) has ladded a minuteamount of vitamin K to counteract
harmful action.
Muscles Relieved and strengthened: A syntheric chemical,
Neostigraine, hasfor some years been used successfully to relieve
fatigue and, muscle weakness.Used in infantile paralysis it was
found to relax muscle spasm, relieve pain,increase strength and
muscular coordination. Dr. H, Kabat (of U. S. PublicHealth Service)
inferred from these previous experiences of his that it might
beeffective when nerves and muscles failed- to function. When tried
on 53patients (such varying Cases as: muscle spasm-, contracture;
joint weakness;pain and muscular weakness persisting too long after
sprain. fracture or chronicinfection, paralytic stroke; Bell's
palsy or facial Paralysis a-MCI the spastictype of cerebral palsy,
rheurmatoid arthritis; bursitis (of shoulder) it was foundthat:
"Improvement in range of motion, relief from pain and increase
instrength and endurance may occur rapidly",
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Skin Storage: "Skin-banks" to which volunteers donate (as they
have done toblood-banks) may be established in, future, now that
human skin stored 3weeks has been used successfully in grafts on
badly burned servicemen.
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God Fulfills Himself(To Kipling)
By Frances Beard Smith
Revered you were for years, famed poet sage,
Authoritative voice for your past age.
Your truth was true for Britain's empire day,
But Cosmic law decrees a higher way
When man shall see in any color face
That something deeper far than speech or race.
Applied new science, factories and speed
Are now the Orient's compelling need.
Perspective, insight, greater wisdom-poise,
Could bring to us, the West, undreamed of joys.
When shall we all be wise enough to see
Each race has some superiority?
A single purpose Life's vast pattern shows
For cactus, lotus, hyacinth and rose.
All men on this evolving earth today
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Are traveling along the self-same way.
To allied airmen flying with the sun
The East met West and twain became as one.
Oh! God, whose life blood flows in every vein,
Enlarge perceptions here on this earth plane.
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Did You Read It
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Did You Read It?
(This postcript to the Book Review Department will serve as a
reminder of oldbooks worth rereading, as well as those which the
reader may have missed atthe time of publication.)
BROTHERHOOD THROUGH RELIGION
(By Paul N. Elbin, Ph. D. Dorrance & Co., Philadelphia.
1944. $1.75.)
E. Stanley Jones states the theme of this worthwhile book in his
brief foreword.Pointing out that educators and religious leaders
alike now realize thatbrotherhood "is no longer a subject for
moralizing-it is now an issue of life anddeath for civilization,"
he continues, "What the idealists have been saying isnow turning
out to be literally true: humanity is one. Down underneath
culturaldifferences is one basic humanity . . . . . The differences
lie in the culture not inthe basic humanity. There is one blood in
all men. The four types of blood runthrough all races. There is one
brain in humanity. The raw brain material ofhumanity is the same,
and given an equal stimulus or incentive will come outthe
same."
In the Preface, the author himself states it thus: "The
brotherhood of man is thecreed of all mature religion. Without the
practice of brotherhood, peace is onlya truce. The clear call of
the hour therefore, is for religion-religion dropping itsweight of
debatable dogma, selfish sectarianism, and escapist ritual;
religionproclaiming anew to all the people of the world their
brotherhood under God."
It may be unnecessary to add any comments, since those two
quotationsdescribe the subject matter. Yet, there are innumerable
ways of handling suchmaterial, and sometimes the results are noble
but dull. Be assured, that is notthe case in Paul Elbin's little
book. His style is simple, but vital, and his pointsare reinforced
by the liberal use of equally interesting quotations.
Evolution of Beliefs
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First he traces the evolution through which a man's personal
beliefs may pass ina lifetime from partisan politics, tribal
patriotism and religious sectarianism toliberalism,
internationalism and belief in the underlying unity of religion.
"Thegood of humanity, the human family, is superior to the good of
a political party,a nation, or a religious sect. When a man lets
one of these lesser loyaltiesinterfere with the major loyalty-love
of God and man-he is not a good partisan,or a good patriot, or a
good sectarian. It is all a matter of proportion orrelativity.
Small things are good when they fit into large purposes. They
mustbe destroyed when they conflict with large purposes."
Just as a man's patriotic ideals evolve, so his religious
concepts may changefrom childhood's belief in a superman God, to
sectarianism, to atheism,agnosticism, and finally-if he matures
religiously-to full faith in a God of loveand brotherhood. Of
course, every one does not reach this final stage, for, "Tomature
religiously is often the most difficult part of growing, up. . . .
Onereason is that many never give serious thought to their
religion. Adults who donot study the Bible and religious questions
under alert teachers, who are notinterested in religious topics,
may be good home-makers, good citizens,contented and happy-but they
are potential atheists! The lag between theirgeneral maturity and
their religious naivete may suddenly cease. Religiously,the most
critical time in life is when a growing mind confronts the religion
ofchildhood and declares, 'This is no longer adequate.' When a
childish religionmust be transferred to maturity, a complete
transformation is required-just as itis required in the realms of
amusement, companionship, reading, work, etc. Thefoolish are those
who go just far enough in their religious maturity to discoverthe
inadequacy of their childish conception of faith . . . . . Really,
atheists arefools. They are people who are stuck midway between
infancy and maturity.They are examples of arrested
development."
Those who do progress find that God is love, is Spirit. He is
manifested withinman, and as "the Good" in humanity, as law in the
universe, as life in all nature.This conception gives an
unshakeable faith, and: "Such a believer will not bedisturbed if
someone calls his faith by such a term as Christian pantheism.
Hisfaith has brought him such satisfaction that whether this or
that is God or is
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only a manifestation of God, or whether one can distinguish
today between theacts of God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit, finds him
only mildly interested. In theuniverse of the believer God is both
Father and Mother, and all men andwomen are brothers and sisters .
. . . . A religious person has a lifetime job (1)cultivating his
own Best Self, (2) trusting the God in others, and (3) findingGod
in every cranny of the universe."
Descriptive Chapter Heads
The chapters which follow (almost two-thirds of the book) are of
equal interest,but too varied in contents to describe here.
However, even the chapter headingsgive some idea of the subjects.
In The Case For Religion, Elbin speaks forreligion "at its
highest," and of the enemies which have tried to strike it
down.Many of these have been leaders in the churches themselves,
for no churchhistory is free of embarrassing instances of
persecution, intolerance and denialof brotherhood, running all the
way from prejudice to murder, and: "Thedifference between massacre
and prejudice is only one of degree, let usremember."
Religion For The World of Tomorrow should start today, with each
personbringing God's kingdom into his own heart, realizing that the
religion of love isfor all, and that all forms of bigotry and greed
(these are described) which standin the way of brotherhood must be
outgrown. The Lost Gospel has been veiledby petty divisions, often
created to advance individual aims. Churches have lostsight of the
heart of it, the gospel which Jesus announced: God is Father;
allpeoples are members of His family. The author mentions ways in
whichscience, art ven business--can help in its recovery.
In the chapter Pride and Prejudice the history of these two
evils is traced andtheir conflict with idealistic religious tenets
described. "The twin curses ofmankind today are pride and
prejudice. Pride is an expression of selfishness.Alexander Pope
called it 'the never-failing vice of fools.' Prejudice is
anexpression of ignorance. When we develop a prejudice, we are
guilty of 'pre-judging' before the facts are gathered . . . . . For
ourselves, we have little except
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pride; for others, nothing but prejudice." The facts and figures
quoted leave thereader' no excuse for harboring any remnants of
religious or racial pride!
Problems arising from these twin sins are enlarged upon in the
closingchapters: Jew and Christian Conscience and the Negro,
Democracy andBrotherhood. There are so many changes to be made, so
many injustices to beeradicated, so many narrow outlooks to be
broadened and yet, there are signs ofincreasing unity too. These
signs feed that little flame of hope in the heart ofevery
individual who, as Paul Elbin does, longs "fervently for the day
when Ican belong to a church known simply and accurately as 'The
Church of HumanBrotherhood.' To that church today belong in spirit
many Christians and manyJews, many white people and many so-called
colored people. It is a churchdevoted not to the peculiarities of
sect but to the great common aspirations ofall mankind."-Reviewed
by Virginia Scott,
Note on Religious Freedom
"I detailed to him what I had found out about the return of
religion to Russia-the reopening of the churches, the
reestablishment of relations with theMoscow Patriarchate by foreign
Orthodox churches, the printing of the Bibleafter 27 years, the
training of the priests in seminaries (even though the study ofthe
Soviet Constitution and the organization of the socialist state
must be partof the curriculum) the freedom of all sects to worship
as they pleased. Thesedifferent religions, included to my surprise,
twenty-two million Moslems as wellas Lutherans, Baptists,
Buddhists, Old Believers, Seventh-day Adventists,Armenian
Christians, Shamanists from Mongolia, Animists from the Tunga,Jews,
Catholics . . . . .
"Fedya laughed. 'You know more about the U-S-S-R than we do.'
But when Irepeated the question whether he didn't fear the Marx
dictum, "Religion is theopium of the people" he shrugged his
shoulders -'There is no danger in religionnow,' he said. "That
slogan was true under the Czar, when a reactionary churchdominated
our political life, then priests hid rifles in their church
basements
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with which to overthrow our Revolutionary plans. Today as you
saw in theplay, priests fight loyally for our Government .....
"The church cannot interfere with our communist education that
still gives thechildren the scientific explanation of the universe
......... -From I Saw TheRussian People, by Ella Winter.
Men still sit at little desks remote from God or life and rack
their inadequatebrains to meet fancied difficulties and state
unnecessary perfections. They seekGod by logic, ignoring the
marginal errors that creep into every syllogism.Their conceit
blinds them to the limitations upon their thinking. They
weavespider-like webs of muddle and disputation across the path by
which men cometo God. It would not matter very much if it were not
that simpler souls arecaught in these webs. Every great religious
system in the world is choked bysuch webs.-H. G. Wells.
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MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS IN INDIA
Part II
AUSTRIAN MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
The second book we recommend concerns a mother and daughter who
firstwent to India as sympathetic visitors, and later returned so
that the daughtercould marry an Indian she had known in England.
This time the mother is theauthor.
Indians themselves - Hindus, Muslims and Parsis---urged Hilda
Wernher towrite a book on India. That fact attests her capabilities
better than pages ofcommendation from any reviewer. As one of the
author's friends-a Maharaniwho was disturbed by the written trash
which has accumulated regarding India-said, "No Western man can
write on India, because he doesn't get to knowIndian life from the
inside. And that he can't." (For in many parts of Indiawomen still
keep purdah, hence family life which, with religion, is the
verycenter of an Indian's existence cannot be studied.) She did say
that someWestern women have produced good books, but felt that
they, too, were usuallyinterested only in superficialities-the
glamorous, strange (to them) world ofprocessions, jewels and
elephants.
To the Maharani's query, "Why are Westerners only out for
externals?" HildaWernher replied, "They are thrilled by ceremonial
and display, not realizing theHindu religion that stands behind
them. That's why they describe India 'fromoutside,' so to say.
Elephants, but not what the elephant means." Themisunderstandings
between Orientals and Occidentals who seem to judgewholly by
externals, she blames upon a lack in the educational system.
"Howcan a Westerner, having never learned about the cultural
background of India,not knowing what a peacock or a lotus-flower or
a cow means in this country -and why! - understand what's going
on?"
At last, after many refusals, Hilda Wernher did give us a
picture of Indian life.
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But she chose to ignore politics and statistics, and to let the
intimate, day-to-day incidents of her life among Hindus and Muslims
illustrate the reasonsbehind some of the conditions noted by more
pretentious authors. The result isa heart-warming record, calling
forth-from anyone who is at all drawn towardIndia--loving sympathy
and, at times, awed respect
Mixed Marriages
This biographical account begins with the day Hilda Wernher
found herself asomewhat baffled third party on her daughter's
honeymoon. Forty-eight hoursafter landing in India, Mary Ann
married Rashid -a Muslim scientist whom shehad known in Europe.
Since he had just finished a year's accumulated leavethere and had
to return at once to the Laboratory of which he was head, andsince
he would be away at work all day and there were no other
Europeansaround, she was persuaded to accompany them because Rashid
pleaded, "MaryAnn would be too lonely without you, Mother. Life in
India is not easy."
Even her decision to stay at a hotel in Akbarabad was soon
overruled by thetwo honeymooners. Mary Ann, with an innate
understanding of the Indianviewpoint, put aside her arguments by
exclaiming, "Oh, you incorrigiblyWestern soul! What am I to do with
such a mother! An Easterner wants all hisfolks around him, the
closer the better. You are the first and only mother he hasknown in
his life. Moreover, he is afraid that people might say you stay
awayfrom us because you dislike him." So began her life in an
Indian bungalow,staffed with Hindu and Muslim servants; meeting the
new in-laws-including anaunt who kept purdah; learning the social
rules and prohibitions of not one buttwo groups.
From Mary Ann's life with Rashid, and from other mixed marriages
mentioned,one learns much about the dangers, and the delightful
possibilities, inherent insuch marriages. This particular match
proved idyllic (as did the marriagebetween Shivan and Kitty in the
book reviewed previously), but it is only fairto note that the
people concerned were above the average in education and
inknowledge of each other's cultures. Rashid-with a string of
degrees, a
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reputation as a scientist, a knowledge of European customs and
beliefs, and anardent desire to free his people from useless and
harmful customs and bringthem some of the scientific benefits of
the West. Hilda Wernher-a cosmopolitewho had loved India before,
who had taught her daughter to look behind racial,religious or
class background in choosing her friends, and was now seeing herput
those teachings into practice in an unexpectedly personal way. Mary
Annherself-yes, above all, Mary Ann-who, as a child had played at
being a veiledEastern princess; who had a fervent love for India
and her people, and whoseoccasional faux pas were minor ones since
she usually knew intuitively how torespond to any unexpected
situation if there is any basic rule by which to judgethe
feasibility of mixed marriages, it must be the one which emerges
here: If aWestern girl is to make a success of marriage in India or
China, it is notenough to love an Indian or Chinese; she must love
the country itself, for itself,and understand, or want to
understand. its customs and spiritual beliefs,Ethnically such
marriages are perfectly normal and failures are frequent
onlybecause so often mental and cultural backgrounds are not on a
par. As theauthor points out, often a Hindu student while in
England falls in love with amiddle class girl who thinks of India
as a fairytale land. If she is suddenlythrust into the midst of a
family whose ways differ from those she has known,she mistakenly
jumps to the conclusion that those ways are "inferior" andshows her
disgust and contempt openly-never realizing that the Indian
familyfinds many of her ways abhorrent and feels disgraced by her
inharmoniouspresence.
Adoption by India
But Indians are quick to respond to love and courtesy, and they
accepted MaryAnn and her mother, gave them love in return,
assistance in the new way oflife, and tolerance in respect to their
occasional social errors, since theirintentions were so good. One
joins them in adoring Mary Ann who adoptedsaris, omitted none of
the little courtesies through which respect is shown toguests;
conformed to the customs Of the country at every crisis, even when
herneighbors had cause to feel she might fail them through lack of
understanding-such as the time a large cobra which lived in the
compound was seen on their
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front lawn, and she had to decide whether the mali should kill
it, or it should bespared and fed in accordance with custom.
It is a great temptation to quote the incident in full since it
shows why thepeople accepted, loved and even reverenced Mary Ann,
and respected hermother. But the book is full of incidents equally
tempting to a reviewer. Yet,lifted from the day by day account of
their lives, some of the poignancy mightbe lost. Hilda Wernher's
style does not call attention to itself. Seemingly, shegives a
simple account of the things which she saw, felt, and witnessed;
butsoon you "know" the people she knew and rejoice or suffer with
them. That iswhy the dreadful tragedy which later struck the
household has such an impactupon the reader. It is so gripping that
you must read it for yourself, as well asthe incidents which
followed in this unusual life with her "Indian Family,"experiences
which show so many facets of the Indian character, the reason
andemotion behind so many actions and situations which might seem
strange toUS.
Dangerous Generalities
Even though it is fallacious to say, "Indians are this or this
or this," still, certaingeneral traits do reappear again and again
in the characters. Taking these as acriterion, one could say that
Indians are very sensitive, often over-sensitive andinclined to
fancy slights; that they are jealous of favor shown or praise given
toothers; that they are suspicious of other groups (Hindus of
Muslims, etc.); andthat they do not always say what they mean. But
that they are equally sensitivewhere the feelings of others are
concerned, having an intuitive knowledge ofone's emotions at any
given moment and of the kindest response they can makeunder the
circumstances; that no one can equal them in the courtesy shown
toguests, regardless of the wealth or importance of the guests;
that they tenderlove and respect to their elders; that they do not
crave solitude and privacy, butwish to be surrounded by friends and
loved ones; etc. etc. Yet, any singlestatement could probably be
disputed upon authoritative grounds. (Forexample, if a religiously
inclined student from America should tour India,visiting ashrams
and schools., meeting yogis, swamis and renunciates of
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various faiths, be would be certain to report that Indians do
crave solitude, thatsilence and solitude are important in fostering
the spirit of contemplation that isan inherent part of the Indian
character!)
Hilda Wernher's contacts were not confined to family, friends
and servantseither. She met royalty, business men, scientists,
merchants, outcastes, lepers,women in purdah women doctors, those
who were militant workers for socialreform, young intellectuals,
government officials, etc. She learned of theprogress being made
against caste restrictions in other parts of India, but shealso
discovered, through several personal experiences, how difficult it
is to takethe firs step toward breaking them down f one happens to
live in a conservativecommunity.
Eastern Hospitality
All her experiences with Easter hospitality were pleasant. With
Rashid andMary Ann she visited high caste Brahmans who could not
eat with them butprepared delicious meals (though they could never
again use the vessels orgoblets used by the Muslim guests, nor even
wash the things in their ownhouse) and the host served them himself
as an added courtesy. They noted thatonce, at a dinner especially
prepared for a few select guests, rustic friends froma village were
accorded a warm welcome when they appeared unexpectedly,the meal
was delayed until they had caught up on previous courses, and
thehost "was not a shade more polite to the Ministers and ourselves
than to therather coarse, intruding youngsters."
She remarks that few Western hosts or hostesses could rise to
the occasion withsuch perfect tact, and adds, "Every Oriental I
have met would behave like that.The guest is sacred. Rashid, tired
and wanting to rest, will smile at visitors atevery time of day or
night, minister to their comforts, take them about, and soon. Mrs.
Ram Chandra, Lavanyia or any other lady will cheerfully prepare
afull meal for an unexpected visitor exactly thirty minutes after
the family mealis over, even if she wants to go out or to rest. And
an Indian meal is not aWestern one! To begin with, there are no
leftovers in the house, owing to the
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tropical climate and the Hindu fastidiousness. When the family
and servantshave eaten, what remains goes to the sweeper. The next
meal must be preparedanew. In addition to this, our makeshifts of
cold luncheons would never satisfyeither Indian guest or host. Cold
food is no food at all-or good only forWesterners, who are crazy
anyway, poor things!
"So the unexpected guest, loved or unloved, much thought of or
despised, isserved a complete meal the preparation of which takes
hours. Suppose an hourafter he leaves there is another unexpected
guest? Another meal is prepared,uncomplainingly, cheerfully."
When hospitality is extended to the poor the same rules of
courtesy prevail.During certain festivals, and also at times sacred
to individual families, the dayis marked by feeding the poor. "This
is a very beautiful custom, in India as wellas in other oriental
lands. Whether funeral or wedding, funeral pyre or birth,one feeds
the poor; according to wealth and status one does so in tens,
hundredsor thousands." When such an occasion arose for this Indian
family, Hilda sawhuge cauldrons set up in the yard by the caterer
and his staff, and was asked toinspect all the supplies. Because
they were feeding Muslim poor that day, theseincluded two legs of
mutton "of superior size and quality." When shecommented on the
fact that this was finer meat than they ever had on their owntable,
and asked where it could be gotten, she was told, "You cannot get
it inthe ordinary way, Mother. The best animals are reserved for
such occasions.Why do you voice astonishment? Was not 'grand' the
word you used? What isgrand in it? Do not quests always get the
best, especially guests on suchoccasions?" This reminded her of
experiences in other parts of the world whereguests were not only
seated according to protocol but fed according to rank too.
Those Peculiar Customs
Whose customs are peculiar? After reading this book you may
hesitate toanswer. Westerners say Hindus are unclean because they
eat with their fingersand often live in smelly surroundings, near
open sewers, etc. Hindus sayWesterners are unclean because they use
utensils which others before them
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have used, and which may not have been properly cleaned (whereas
a Hindualways sees that his hands are clean), don't bathe more than
on