SEVENTEENTH MEETING

I read Henry’s paper:

“We should not be partisan. Do not fight against any one as an enemy, but as a friend who tries to help another, by thwarting his wrong purpose.

“Again we can go to Lincoln for an example. When he was president, Lincoln sent to his great political enemy, Douglas, and asked for his aid in the approaching struggle. Again, when the war was almost over, and those about him said that the Southern leaders would have to be severely dealt with, he told them that though he could not avoid the hated war, now that their end had been gained, he wanted peace, and bore no malice toward his Southern countrymen, whom he would deal with as leniently as possible.”

Then I read Marian’s paper:

“At our last meeting of the Seekers we took up the application of the two next-to-the-last principles of Art to life. The first, ‘do not be partisan,’ we understood easily. But how to stand for a cause without being partisan, is more difficult to understand. By this we mean being for a cause but not against another, and being broad-minded enough to understand the other side. In doing this all personal attacks are, of course, eliminated. The next principle, that art gives the impression of truth, when applied to life means being, first, truth-telling. However, if by telling the truth we unnecessarily wound a person, we had better say nothing. To tell the truth for the purpose of hurting some one is almost as bad as telling a lie.”

I said I thought it was almost worse. I asked why had Henry and Marian both left out an important part of our last meeting, the part on our larger social relations? Had we not made it impressive enough? For a moment they all were puzzled. Was it at the last meeting we had spoken of that? When I reminded them of what had been said, they remembered. But Henry added: “I did not think we said it at the last meeting. It seemed longer ago. Perhaps because that is something we have spoken of at all the meetings, right along.”

I said I thought all but Alfred and Ruth were not greatly interested in larger social questions. Their family and school life were more absorbing. I said: “I know Alfred is interested in social and political problems, because he has told me so. You see, even though he won’t talk to you, he does sometimes talk to me.”

Alfred blushed. He answered: “I care more about those outside relations than anything else.”

Marian said: “I am interested, too. But last time, just in the midst, we got off to the subject of ‘knocking’ people. And so I don’t think we quite finished.”

“Perhaps,” I asked, “we had better go over it again to-day? And yet I think not. You do seem to understand. I don’t think you can form your social and political opinions now, and I don’t care to talk much of these things. You see, the boys still have five years before they need to vote. And for the girls, I imagine it may be even longer.”

“I don’t know,” said Ruth, “I don’t think it will be much longer.”

“But,” I went on, “we spoke of other things, too. Didn’t we speak a great deal of woman’s life?”

“You mean choosing professions, and society, and so on?” asked Marian.

“Yes.”

“It is strange, too,” said she, “that I forgot to write about it. For it impressed me very much, and I was talking of it only the other day, when some girls were at the house.”

“Now,” I said, “we will speak of that strange thing, aloofness, the spectator’s point of view, that a while ago you could not understand. And I think to-day you will understand at once, for it is the sum and completeness of all we have said. Do you think you know now what I mean by aloofness? What do you think, Henry?”

“I think it means,” he said, “understanding with sympathy all the people about you, and the outsiders.”

“Yes,” I said; “but it means more than that.”

Alfred looked as if he knew.

“Well, Alfred?”

“Doesn’t it mean,” he asked, “being able to criticize and judge yourself?”

“Yes,” I said. “That is nearer; it means both, and more than both. It means being not only in yourself, but above and around, judging all things as if you were all the people, from the point of view of the whole world. You know what we mean when we say God. We mean that whole, the whole Self. It means seeing life from God’s point of view. It is as if we were spectator and also actor; doing our own little part in our own little lives, and yet seeing the whole, and caring most for that whole, and acting our part in relation to it, to please the vast spectator. Have you not yourselves had that experience? Have you not, even in exciting moments, suddenly felt as if you were outside yourself, looking on at yourself, and judging?”

“Yes,” said Marian, “I often do. Sometimes I laugh at myself. I see how foolish I am, but I go right on. For the actor and the spectator do not always agree.”

I said: “All goodness and power in life spring from making the actor and spectator agree, making the larger self include and manage the smaller self, and move it as a player moves a pawn. For, remember, it is not two separate selves, but one self, a vast sense of all life, inclusive of this smaller self which we control. Do you not realize that all heroism, all great and noble action is done so, in the spirit of the whole, for the vast spectator within us? When a man dies for a cause, he is that cause, he is far more than his own small self, and he gladly dies for that which includes and fulfils him. When a man gives up his life to save another man, he sees the whole thing as from above. He and the other man are one, are part of the same life, and he spends himself for himself.

“Fear,” I said, “cowardice, loss of self-control in crises, always comes when the actor forgets the spectator, when the spectator loses control.

“If ever you have been in any exciting crisis, and kept cool and above fear, then you will know what I mean; how you think of the whole, of all the people, and seem to be and control the whole.”

Ruth said she knew one never thought especially of one’s self at such a time. Experiences, however, were scarce. Virginia spoke of the time she was with me in a burning trolley car, and how she had been interested rather than excited. But then she was a very, very little girl. Ruth said she didn’t remember how she felt when she was almost run down by an automobile.

Marian asked: “One is not always conscious of the spectator?”

“No,” I answered, “one is conscious of him only at rare moments. For it is the actor who acts and lives, and the spectator controls him. The spectator is oftenest silent. He watches. And he must choose.”

“But is thespectator always sure?” asked Marian. “Sometimes you cannot tell what seems to you best, until you talk it over with others.”

“The spectator,” I said, “judges and chooses according to all he can know. Surely, he chooses in relation with others. He can use all experience; he goes even beyond his sorrow and pain. Do you understand? He goes beyond sorrow and pain, and uses them. Do you remember I spoke to you once of all things being a memory, of the body itself being a memory? The basis of all sympathy is experience and memory. So the spectator grows and uses everything. He is, as it were, in partnership with the whole, with God. And he rises on his own knowledge. The higher he goes, the farther can he see. Do you understand that aloofness, the judging from the standpoint of the whole, of the whole self, is the basis of morality? It is the part judging and living for the whole. Those who know this make the laws for all, according to their knowledge; and the others, who are only actors, whose spectator is not wide awake, have to obey.”

At first they protested. Was this true? They did not understand. Henry asked did I mean making laws to control anarchists? I explained how some had to be forced to conform, even for their own good, and how the others were free, because the law that was good for all, they knew to be best for themselves.

I said: “My own limited personal life is my weapon and means, the only weapon and means I have to come to completeness. I will always remember that it is a means, something to use; but it is my only means, and for that reason it is important and precious to me above all else.”

“You mean,” said Virginia, “that you don’t want to dream away your life, like the ascetics of the middle ages, who dreamed of the whole, but didn’t do their part?”

“Yes,” I said, “exactly. It is as if we were all watching a vast chessboard, all together interested in the game, but each able to control only one pawn, and yet anxious to play in such a way as to win the game along with the others, each for the sake of the whole. And that pawn is our own life; the only power we have.”

“Aren’t we ourselves the pawns?” asked Marian.

“No,” said Henry; “then we couldn’t manage them.”

“We are both pawn and player,” I said; “for if we were only the pawn, in the crowd of little players, we could not see ahead, and would go blindly forward without aim. One must be above the board to see it.”

And now I asked: “Shall we look once more over all we have said in these few months?”

They answered that it seemed to them this last meeting had been a review.

“Yes,” I answered, “aloofness, which a while ago you could not understand, is now wholly clear to you; and more than that, it includes all we have said.”

“It doesn’t include it all,” said Henry, “but it finishes and rounds it out.”

“And our little club is finished,” I asked, “artistically finished?”

“Yes,” they said.

“I have noticed that sometimes some of you call it ‘class.’ Is it a class? Is it not rather a club; have we not all gone forward together?”

Ruth answered: “It is each or both. Sometimes we speak of it as class, or club, or lesson.”

“Surely it is a lesson,” said Henry, “because we have learned something from it. Whatever you learn from is a lesson.”

Well, after all, I suppose I have given them my thought; and that is what I must have meant to do.

I asked them what practical result the ideas had had upon their lives.

“Do you mean in action?” asked Marian. “I never stop to think of it when I act, but I find that I refer my thoughts again and again to this standard, when I don’t mean to, or expect to.”

“It is a habit of thought,” I answered, “and our habits of thought unconsciously make our actions.”

“Yes,” said Virginia, “things that happen are always bringing to mind the things we speak of here.”

“But we have not yet reached an absolute, stiff conclusion, have we?” insisted Marian.

“No,” I answered; “we are going to be seekers all our lives—are we not?—comrades in the search for light?”

“Surely,” they said.

“And,” I went on, “I want something more of you. I have noticed that you all are very shy about talking of the club to outsiders. But it seems to me that it is worth while telling your thought and your truth, that you must not only seek, but share what you find.”

“You mean,” said Virginia, “that we should try to get converts, like the Catholics?”

“Yes,” I answered, “converts to seeking.”

“It is very hard,” Ruth said, “to talk to outsiders of these things. I can tell my mother. She understands. But we have made a language of our own at the club, and other people don’t understand it. When I begin to tell them, they ask: ‘What sort of language are you using?’”

“That is a pity,” I answered, “and yet we could hardly help it. Perhaps we should have tried to use other words.”

“No,” said Ruth, “I think it is a very beautiful language, and we must use it. But it makes it hard to tell others.”

“People don’t want to understand,” said Henry. “When you begin to tell them what it is about, they make up their minds they won’t understand such things. They set out with that idea.”

Marian said: “I often speak of certain things we discussed, just as the other day I was speaking of women’s professions and social life. But it is impossible to tell the whole idea. One would have to begin at the beginning.”

“Yes,” I answered, “it would be a whole course. So you have to content yourself with telling the unessential parts. But I hope that you will absorb this idea into your life and your actions, and then find new words in which to tell the same truth almost unconsciously, words that will be made clear to all through your own experience.

“We see clearly how each one of us will draw strength and judgment from his limitless whole self. And the knowledge of our greatest desire will make us teach our lesser desires to follow it, will make us shape and use the whole of our life for the thing we want and love.

“And now I wish to ask you each a question. What particular thing or power seems most dear and necessary to you in your own life, in order to fulfil your aim. Alfred, tell me. Do you know? Or do you want time to think of it?”

“What I want most,” said Alfred, “is the power to calculate and judge how things are going to turn out. To plan well.”

“What I want most,” said Marian, “is to be the sort of girl I wish to be. To be like my idea of myself.”

“What I want most,” said Virginia, “is to have fun, to be happy.”

“What does that mean?” asked Henry. “Happiness, for each one of us, is having what we want most.”

“Well,” said Virginia, “I like life to be pleasant for me and for all the people about me.”

“What I want most,” said Florence, “is to be loved.”

“Only to be loved, or to love, too?”

“To be loved and to love.”

Ruth said: “That is what I want most, too.”

Henry said: “I agree with them.”

They all seemed to wish they had said it. Virginia added: “If you are happy, you are loved.”

“Lately,” said I, “this last week, a leader of clubs told me he had asked this same question of a club of boys. I wanted to see what you would answer.”

“What did they answer?”

“They, all but one, answered ‘Money.’ The one said he wished to make beautiful things.”

“That is a fine answer,” Virginia said. “I’m sure I would like him.”

“I know,” said Henry, “a great many boys feel that way. I happen to know of that club. One of those boys said to me lately, what he wanted most was to have lots of money, so he could enjoy himself. But I think after he had the money, he would not find the enjoyment satisfying.”

“Of course,” I answered, “money is necessary to life; that is, the means of life are necessary to life.”

“But one can earn those,” said they.

Marian said: “If I were as strong, capable and good as I would like, and just the sort of person I mean to be, it would be easy to earn money.”

Ruth said: “If one is loved and loves many people, one is sure to find some way of getting enough money to live. I don’t mean that people will thrust it on you, but you are sure to find the way to get whatever you need.”

I said: “Money is only, as it were, a certificate of power; for so much work, you are given the means to go on working and living. But the great problem is to make the work itself worth more to us than the payment. And I am afraid with most people it is not so. Money is a means for work, for life, for fulfilment. If things were properly adjusted, and society perfect, each man would work for his livelihood at the work which he loved most to do.”

Virginia said: “I would rather be a pauper than not be an artist.”

I answered: “I hope each one of you will find the means to do the work you love, and make it your livelihood. For that is the only way to justify both work and wage.”

Then I said: “Before we part and plan to meet again, I am going to tell you something very exciting. I am almost afraid to say it.”

“What is it? Tell us, quick.”

“Do you remember, I told you I was keeping minutes of the club?”

“Yes, that is why you wanted our papers.”

“Well, they are not ordinary minutes. They are an exact account of all we have done and said.” And then I told them of this book.

They were delighted. “We are all going to be put into a book,” they said.

“Yes,” I answered, “it will be a book, and you are all to be in it. But who knows whether any one else will care? Perhaps it will never be published.”

“Even if it isn’t published,” said Henry, “it will be a book.”

“What will it be called?” they asked.

“‘The Seekers,’ of course.”

“You ought to call it ‘The Pathfinder,’” said Henry. “That would sound more romantic and interesting, and attract people.”

Would I dedicate it to them? they asked.

“No, certainly not,” I said; “you are all helping me write it. We will dedicate it to all Seekers.”

What names would I use? they asked.

I would use their right first names, I said. Weren’t they willing?

Yes, yes, they were willing.

“For,” I said, “one could scarcely make up prettier names: I like them all, Marian, Ruth, Florence, Virginia, Henry and Alfred.”

“Yes,” answered Marian, “we like our own names.”

“And you have really helped me to write it,” I said, “for I have all your papers. That’s why I wanted them, to prove that I was not inventing the whole thing.”

“Are you putting them in just as we wrote them?” asked Marian.

“Yes, exactly.”

“Oh, please,” she begged, “correct my spelling and my bad construction.”

“I will correct your spelling and your punctuation, but nothing else.”

“Oh, please,” she said, “change the places where I repeated myself. I wrote them so hastily.”

“I suppose,” I said, “that what was good enough for me will be good enough for any one. Don’t you think so? I always wanted to write a book like this, and as I didn’t have brains enough to invent it alone, I made you help me. It is a real live book. We have lived it together.”

Now they asked me crowds of questions. Had I put in all the nonsense? Yes, every bit. “Then we will laugh at ourselves,” said Marian. Had I put in every time Virginia mentioned animals? Yes, almost every time. It must be very interesting, they said. “Did you write down every time we laughed?” No, I took that for granted. And did I write down when Florence said brother Arthur told her things? Yes. And would I leave that in? Certainly. And would I let them see it? Yes, as soon as possible.

APPENDIX

The notes used by the leader at each meeting, and slightly remodeled afterward, as experience showed them to be faulty, are here presented, in the hope that they may be of use in some other club. Certain clubs have been formed by some of the original Seekers, in which the text of the book itself is being read aloud and discussed. But were an older person leading the club—and that is always to be desired—he might find it far more stimulating and fruitful to conduct the meetings by directing the conversation along the line of these notes. No doubt if he made this use of my experience, he would, by adding his own, give new value to the outcome.

Why Are Our Religions Unsatisfying, and What Shall We Do?

I.Conditions To-day:

a.Religions destroy religion. If you are wrong, I might be wrong.b.Men cling to traditional, half-conscious belief, or build up an ethic or agnostic faith, because man must live by faith.

a.Religions destroy religion. If you are wrong, I might be wrong.

b.Men cling to traditional, half-conscious belief, or build up an ethic or agnostic faith, because man must live by faith.

II.Historic Reasons for Present Conditions:

a.Initiated and popular religion in history:1. India; castes and the Brahmans.2. Egypt; secret priesthood, annexed beliefs, and interpretations of myths.3. Greece; Rome; early Catholicism; the priests.b.Analysis of initiated and popular belief:1. Myths of Orpheus; of Moses and the Burning Bush; of the divine parentage of Jesus.2. The initiated is the religion of poetry and prophecy, of symbols. These, taken literally by the people, become a religion of idols and prose. One is a moving spirit, the other a graven image. Words can be idols.c.The modern trend:1. Democratic spirit (since Reformation) destroys initiated religion, keeps popular religion.2. Science destroys popular myths.

a.Initiated and popular religion in history:

1. India; castes and the Brahmans.2. Egypt; secret priesthood, annexed beliefs, and interpretations of myths.3. Greece; Rome; early Catholicism; the priests.

1. India; castes and the Brahmans.

2. Egypt; secret priesthood, annexed beliefs, and interpretations of myths.

3. Greece; Rome; early Catholicism; the priests.

b.Analysis of initiated and popular belief:

1. Myths of Orpheus; of Moses and the Burning Bush; of the divine parentage of Jesus.2. The initiated is the religion of poetry and prophecy, of symbols. These, taken literally by the people, become a religion of idols and prose. One is a moving spirit, the other a graven image. Words can be idols.

1. Myths of Orpheus; of Moses and the Burning Bush; of the divine parentage of Jesus.

2. The initiated is the religion of poetry and prophecy, of symbols. These, taken literally by the people, become a religion of idols and prose. One is a moving spirit, the other a graven image. Words can be idols.

c.The modern trend:

1. Democratic spirit (since Reformation) destroys initiated religion, keeps popular religion.2. Science destroys popular myths.

1. Democratic spirit (since Reformation) destroys initiated religion, keeps popular religion.

2. Science destroys popular myths.

III.What Must We Do To-day?

a.Scientific knowledge destroys popular myths, but does not replace religion:1. Every scientist has a philosophy or faith.2. Science fosters new popular delusions, built on its literal facts, such as atheism and scientific superstitions of half-knowledge.b.There is absolute religious knowledge:1. Its record in history: Moses, Jesus, etc.2. Its testimony in our own selves:(What do weknow?)c.In a democracy every one must attain this knowledge; each must be initiated; every man shall be a prophet.

a.Scientific knowledge destroys popular myths, but does not replace religion:

1. Every scientist has a philosophy or faith.2. Science fosters new popular delusions, built on its literal facts, such as atheism and scientific superstitions of half-knowledge.

1. Every scientist has a philosophy or faith.

2. Science fosters new popular delusions, built on its literal facts, such as atheism and scientific superstitions of half-knowledge.

b.There is absolute religious knowledge:

1. Its record in history: Moses, Jesus, etc.2. Its testimony in our own selves:(What do weknow?)

1. Its record in history: Moses, Jesus, etc.

2. Its testimony in our own selves:

(What do weknow?)

c.In a democracy every one must attain this knowledge; each must be initiated; every man shall be a prophet.

IV.What Does Each One Believe Concerning God?

(Question for next week.)

God, and the Meaning of Progress

I.The Idea of God a Personal Conviction:

a.A realization to be achieved, but, after that, silence on the subject. Sacredness of the word.b.Members’ individual ideas of God.c.My idea stated:1. God as Self (read from Vedas), as the completion of myself. “I am that I am.”2. The aspiration toward complete sympathy, consciousness (selfhood) as the aspiration of God, and the aim of progress.3. The idea of “holiness” meaning “wholeness.”

a.A realization to be achieved, but, after that, silence on the subject. Sacredness of the word.

b.Members’ individual ideas of God.

c.My idea stated:

1. God as Self (read from Vedas), as the completion of myself. “I am that I am.”2. The aspiration toward complete sympathy, consciousness (selfhood) as the aspiration of God, and the aim of progress.3. The idea of “holiness” meaning “wholeness.”

1. God as Self (read from Vedas), as the completion of myself. “I am that I am.”

2. The aspiration toward complete sympathy, consciousness (selfhood) as the aspiration of God, and the aim of progress.

3. The idea of “holiness” meaning “wholeness.”

II.Historic Ideas of God:

a.The inner meaning of polytheism: many aspects of one God.b.The inner meaning of trinity: the three as one, as the contrast of life, and its unity. A true paradox. Myself, the other Self, and love, the holy spirit.c.The inner meaning of dualism: the two are two sides of one thing, the negative and the positive. Light makes darkness.d.Personal, parental, and all other ideas of God are included in our larger view. The unity embraces all ideas and diversities.

a.The inner meaning of polytheism: many aspects of one God.

b.The inner meaning of trinity: the three as one, as the contrast of life, and its unity. A true paradox. Myself, the other Self, and love, the holy spirit.

c.The inner meaning of dualism: the two are two sides of one thing, the negative and the positive. Light makes darkness.

d.Personal, parental, and all other ideas of God are included in our larger view. The unity embraces all ideas and diversities.

III.Progress As the Trend Toward Complete Self:

a.Throughout history the only progress has been toward greater understanding and brotherhood:1. The value of railroads, telephones, etc.b.The good is whatever leads toward understanding, sympathy, wholeness.c.The bad is whatever does not lead thither:1. The bad is what was once good, and has been passed.2. Or sometimes it is the necessary result of an experimental progress.3. Things are not “good” and “bad,” but better and worse. Therefore evil itself is proof of progress.d.The will toward good is in the world and ourselves.1. Dissatisfaction is the will toward progress.2. We use all bad things for the great good that we love.(This meeting might be divided into two, one onGOD, and one onPROGRESS.)

a.Throughout history the only progress has been toward greater understanding and brotherhood:

1. The value of railroads, telephones, etc.

b.The good is whatever leads toward understanding, sympathy, wholeness.

c.The bad is whatever does not lead thither:

1. The bad is what was once good, and has been passed.2. Or sometimes it is the necessary result of an experimental progress.3. Things are not “good” and “bad,” but better and worse. Therefore evil itself is proof of progress.

1. The bad is what was once good, and has been passed.

2. Or sometimes it is the necessary result of an experimental progress.

3. Things are not “good” and “bad,” but better and worse. Therefore evil itself is proof of progress.

d.The will toward good is in the world and ourselves.

1. Dissatisfaction is the will toward progress.2. We use all bad things for the great good that we love.

1. Dissatisfaction is the will toward progress.

2. We use all bad things for the great good that we love.

(This meeting might be divided into two, one onGOD, and one onPROGRESS.)

Matter and Spirit

I.Short Review:

a.What is the aim of life?b.How do you explain good and bad?

a.What is the aim of life?

b.How do you explain good and bad?

II.Are Matter and Spirit Antagonistic, or Like Good and Bad, to be Explained Through Each Other?

a.All matter has shape or idea:1. Matter takes the shape of spirit.2. We know only the spirit, or idea, because all things come to us through our senses.3. Pure matter, if it exist, is a thing we cannot experience.

a.All matter has shape or idea:

1. Matter takes the shape of spirit.2. We know only the spirit, or idea, because all things come to us through our senses.3. Pure matter, if it exist, is a thing we cannot experience.

1. Matter takes the shape of spirit.

2. We know only the spirit, or idea, because all things come to us through our senses.

3. Pure matter, if it exist, is a thing we cannot experience.

III.Matter is the Medium Through Which Spirit Expresses Itself:

a.Expression is the means for reaching understanding.b.All expression, at present, is through so-called material means.

a.Expression is the means for reaching understanding.

b.All expression, at present, is through so-called material means.

IV.Spirit Can Do All Things in the Future:

a.“Immovable” physical conditions are the result of will or spirit in the past.1. Our ancestors.2. The mental beginnings of all physical ills.b.Spirit force is the only shaping force in a universe of spirit or will.1. One can, therefore, control the physical.2. One can shape one’s destiny.

a.“Immovable” physical conditions are the result of will or spirit in the past.

1. Our ancestors.2. The mental beginnings of all physical ills.

1. Our ancestors.

2. The mental beginnings of all physical ills.

b.Spirit force is the only shaping force in a universe of spirit or will.

1. One can, therefore, control the physical.2. One can shape one’s destiny.

1. One can, therefore, control the physical.

2. One can shape one’s destiny.

Evolution

I.The Place of Evolution in a Religious Enquiry:

a.We must believe in that, or in special creation.1. Every religion has a theory of creation.2. Evolution is a theory of creation.b.It may throw light on the means of progress.

a.We must believe in that, or in special creation.

1. Every religion has a theory of creation.2. Evolution is a theory of creation.

1. Every religion has a theory of creation.

2. Evolution is a theory of creation.

b.It may throw light on the means of progress.

II.Evolution Means Descent of All Creatures from a Common One-celled Ancestral Form:

a.Physical proof of the theory:1. In likeness of structure.2. In rudimentary organs.3. In geological records.4. In the Law of Recapitulation.

a.Physical proof of the theory:

1. In likeness of structure.2. In rudimentary organs.3. In geological records.4. In the Law of Recapitulation.

1. In likeness of structure.

2. In rudimentary organs.

3. In geological records.

4. In the Law of Recapitulation.

III.Theories of the Process of Evolution:

a.Natural Selection:1. Variations in all directions, and adaptation.2. Adaptation a struggle for life.α. For place.β. For food.γ. For protection, through imitative color or form.3. The value of artificial selection as partly showing us the processes of natural selection.4. What natural selection fails to explain.b.The theory of Sexual Selection, and its shortcomings.c.The auxiliary theory of Isolation.

a.Natural Selection:

1. Variations in all directions, and adaptation.2. Adaptation a struggle for life.α. For place.β. For food.γ. For protection, through imitative color or form.3. The value of artificial selection as partly showing us the processes of natural selection.4. What natural selection fails to explain.

1. Variations in all directions, and adaptation.

2. Adaptation a struggle for life.

α. For place.β. For food.γ. For protection, through imitative color or form.

α. For place.

β. For food.

γ. For protection, through imitative color or form.

3. The value of artificial selection as partly showing us the processes of natural selection.

4. What natural selection fails to explain.

b.The theory of Sexual Selection, and its shortcomings.

c.The auxiliary theory of Isolation.

IV.The Philosophical Significance of Evolution:

a.Evolution a self-evolving of uncreated life.1. Wish, desire, love cause all change and creation.2. Progress is from within, of our own will.3. Change or re-birth necessitates death.α. Death makes room for young.β. We die for the sake of life.b.Evolution and the aim of life:1. Fitness and harmony the test of life.2. It goes from likeness to unlikeness and recognition.3. Pain, disease, death and changing standards of good and bad are the path of progress toward wholeness and understanding.c.Evolution the simplest, clearest proof of relationship.[Note.—For reference and illustrations, the first volume of Romanes’ “Darwin and After Darwin” is more convenient to use and show than Darwin’s own works.]

a.Evolution a self-evolving of uncreated life.

1. Wish, desire, love cause all change and creation.2. Progress is from within, of our own will.3. Change or re-birth necessitates death.α. Death makes room for young.β. We die for the sake of life.

1. Wish, desire, love cause all change and creation.

2. Progress is from within, of our own will.

3. Change or re-birth necessitates death.

α. Death makes room for young.β. We die for the sake of life.

α. Death makes room for young.

β. We die for the sake of life.

b.Evolution and the aim of life:

1. Fitness and harmony the test of life.2. It goes from likeness to unlikeness and recognition.3. Pain, disease, death and changing standards of good and bad are the path of progress toward wholeness and understanding.

1. Fitness and harmony the test of life.

2. It goes from likeness to unlikeness and recognition.

3. Pain, disease, death and changing standards of good and bad are the path of progress toward wholeness and understanding.

c.Evolution the simplest, clearest proof of relationship.

[Note.—For reference and illustrations, the first volume of Romanes’ “Darwin and After Darwin” is more convenient to use and show than Darwin’s own works.]

Prayer

I.A Communion, Not a Begging:

a.In a world that goes toward its own desire—which is also ours—it is folly to ask one’s vast Self for anything.b.Prayer is a momentary consciousness of the vast Self which is God.

a.In a world that goes toward its own desire—which is also ours—it is folly to ask one’s vast Self for anything.

b.Prayer is a momentary consciousness of the vast Self which is God.

II.The Value of Prayer:

a.To be conscious, by an effort, of the vast oneness, gives us renewed calmness and strength.b.To pray for what we can be is to call forth the power tobeit.c.Prayer puts us in a state of mind in which we draw upon the endless source of power and possibility:1. The value, therefore, of prayer before sleep.

a.To be conscious, by an effort, of the vast oneness, gives us renewed calmness and strength.

b.To pray for what we can be is to call forth the power tobeit.

c.Prayer puts us in a state of mind in which we draw upon the endless source of power and possibility:

1. The value, therefore, of prayer before sleep.

III.The Manner of Prayer:

a.By conscious words that give the communion.b.By an occasional state of mind.c.By every creative action.d.By the whole attitude of our life.

a.By conscious words that give the communion.

b.By an occasional state of mind.

c.By every creative action.

d.By the whole attitude of our life.

Immortality

I.Importance to Us of an Opinion Concerning Death and Immortality:

a.We know we must die soon:1. Speak of the numberless generations of life.b.We live according to our expectations:1. Relation throughout history of beliefs concerning immortality and of the morality of peoples.2. Good and bad effects of belief in heaven and hell.

a.We know we must die soon:

1. Speak of the numberless generations of life.

b.We live according to our expectations:

1. Relation throughout history of beliefs concerning immortality and of the morality of peoples.2. Good and bad effects of belief in heaven and hell.

1. Relation throughout history of beliefs concerning immortality and of the morality of peoples.

2. Good and bad effects of belief in heaven and hell.

II.Knowledge Concerning Immortality:

a.What is Knowledge?1. The relativity of all knowledge.2. Knowledge through conviction loses force when there is disagreement.3. Knowledge through analogy is like circumstantial evidence.b.We know:1. That matter and force do not die.α. We know of nothing that is positively mortal.2. That life works in a certain direction.3. That death and re-birth are the means of moving in that direction,i.e., of progress.4. That this progress is of the spirit or self.5. That we are forever a part of the world, related to the whole.6. As we know nothing but consciousness or self, we believe it must be immortal, though we have no proof.

a.What is Knowledge?

1. The relativity of all knowledge.2. Knowledge through conviction loses force when there is disagreement.3. Knowledge through analogy is like circumstantial evidence.

1. The relativity of all knowledge.

2. Knowledge through conviction loses force when there is disagreement.

3. Knowledge through analogy is like circumstantial evidence.

b.We know:

1. That matter and force do not die.α. We know of nothing that is positively mortal.2. That life works in a certain direction.3. That death and re-birth are the means of moving in that direction,i.e., of progress.4. That this progress is of the spirit or self.5. That we are forever a part of the world, related to the whole.6. As we know nothing but consciousness or self, we believe it must be immortal, though we have no proof.

1. That matter and force do not die.

α. We know of nothing that is positively mortal.

2. That life works in a certain direction.

3. That death and re-birth are the means of moving in that direction,i.e., of progress.

4. That this progress is of the spirit or self.

5. That we are forever a part of the world, related to the whole.

6. As we know nothing but consciousness or self, we believe it must be immortal, though we have no proof.

III.The Theory of Race-immortality as an Ideal:

a.It is more improbable than self-immortality.1. All planets die.2. The last generation, dies, too.b.It is not true immortality:1. The thing we cannot transmit is the Self which loves and seeks.

a.It is more improbable than self-immortality.

1. All planets die.2. The last generation, dies, too.

1. All planets die.

2. The last generation, dies, too.

b.It is not true immortality:

1. The thing we cannot transmit is the Self which loves and seeks.

IV.Memory and Personality:

a.Admission of ignorance and indifference. Why?1. Everything is a memory and a prophecy, since everything exists forever, and advances.2. The body is a memory.3. Memory must continue at least in its results on the self, if not more definitely.b.Love and Meeting:1. Love may have other satisfactions than we dream of.2. We are all one, and cannot be separated.

a.Admission of ignorance and indifference. Why?

1. Everything is a memory and a prophecy, since everything exists forever, and advances.2. The body is a memory.3. Memory must continue at least in its results on the self, if not more definitely.

1. Everything is a memory and a prophecy, since everything exists forever, and advances.

2. The body is a memory.

3. Memory must continue at least in its results on the self, if not more definitely.

b.Love and Meeting:

1. Love may have other satisfactions than we dream of.2. We are all one, and cannot be separated.

1. Love may have other satisfactions than we dream of.

2. We are all one, and cannot be separated.

V.“I Am” Expresses Immortality:

a.Each least thing is eternal and universal.

The Meaning of Beauty

I.Beauty is the Symbol of Completeness and Harmony:

a.This is the reason beauty delights us:1. It pictures the aim and desire of our whole life.b.The smallest thing can be as a universe in itself, if it be complete and harmonious,i.e., perfect:1. A drop as well as a planet; a dog, in his way, as well as a man; a day as well as a century.

a.This is the reason beauty delights us:

1. It pictures the aim and desire of our whole life.

b.The smallest thing can be as a universe in itself, if it be complete and harmonious,i.e., perfect:

1. A drop as well as a planet; a dog, in his way, as well as a man; a day as well as a century.

II.The Good, the True and the Beautiful Have the Same End, and Are Sought, Respectively, by Philosophy, Science and Art:

a.Philosophy seeks the whole at once, therefore can never reach that completeness.b.Science seeks individual truths, not the moral truth, or aim:1. Darwin, the philosophical scientist.c.Art gives us that completeness, our aim, symbolized in a small and definite shape.

a.Philosophy seeks the whole at once, therefore can never reach that completeness.

b.Science seeks individual truths, not the moral truth, or aim:

1. Darwin, the philosophical scientist.

c.Art gives us that completeness, our aim, symbolized in a small and definite shape.

III.Genius is the Common Human Quality, Distinct from Talent:

a.The Genius differs not inkind, but indegree, from his fellows.b.The desire for understanding and completeness, present in some measure in all, is genius.c.The understanding in the spectator is akin to the genius in the artist.

a.The Genius differs not inkind, but indegree, from his fellows.

b.The desire for understanding and completeness, present in some measure in all, is genius.

c.The understanding in the spectator is akin to the genius in the artist.

IV.Talent is the Power of Expression:

a.To see all things as distinct wholes, impersonally.b.The skill to portray, and to handle material.c.Genius and talent vary in degrees of relation in different artists’ work:1. The great idea, imperfectly executed.2. The small idea in perfect form.

a.To see all things as distinct wholes, impersonally.

b.The skill to portray, and to handle material.

c.Genius and talent vary in degrees of relation in different artists’ work:

1. The great idea, imperfectly executed.2. The small idea in perfect form.

1. The great idea, imperfectly executed.

2. The small idea in perfect form.

V.Art as the Symbol of Completeness and Creative Expression:

a.The sublime lie of the Symbol, truer than fact:1. The effect of removal from life, of unreality, in relation to beauty. It seems more self-sufficient.b.A complete vision must not take sides:1. When art is partisan,forsomething, it is alsoagainstsomething. Complete representation.c.Creative art gives us the joy of play, of creation:1. Play—interplay—is the progress and will of life, and work but a name for the disagreeable but necessary part of the game.

a.The sublime lie of the Symbol, truer than fact:

1. The effect of removal from life, of unreality, in relation to beauty. It seems more self-sufficient.

b.A complete vision must not take sides:

1. When art is partisan,forsomething, it is alsoagainstsomething. Complete representation.

c.Creative art gives us the joy of play, of creation:

1. Play—interplay—is the progress and will of life, and work but a name for the disagreeable but necessary part of the game.

Art

I.Reason for Æsthetic Enquiry:

a.Art (creation) is the service of religion.b.Laws of beauty (completeness) may give us laws for life.c.Will prepare us to deal more sanely and surely with the involved problems of conduct.

a.Art (creation) is the service of religion.

b.Laws of beauty (completeness) may give us laws for life.

c.Will prepare us to deal more sanely and surely with the involved problems of conduct.

II.Art in the Novel:

a.Completeness in the story:1. Exclusion of unimportant and irrelevant matter.α. The “story-teller” in us all.β. The distractions of real life, with its far-relatedness.γ. The “outside” event in melodrama too like life.2. Exclusion of author’s one-sided moral verdict.3. Must not be “for” some characters, and “against” others.b.Understanding of Life in novel:1. False simplicity of poetic justice, of all good, and all bad.2. Cant phrases offend because they appear imitative, not sincere.3. Psychological and dramatic treatment:α. Dramatic writer trusts reader’s insight.β. Action is more convincing than description of motive.4. Humor and wit:α. Humor is knowledge of human nature, its contrasted greatness and littleness.β. Wit is a juggling of words into contrasted or incongruous effects.γ. Both are a bringing together of the incongruous, in a paradox of unity.

a.Completeness in the story:

1. Exclusion of unimportant and irrelevant matter.α. The “story-teller” in us all.β. The distractions of real life, with its far-relatedness.γ. The “outside” event in melodrama too like life.2. Exclusion of author’s one-sided moral verdict.3. Must not be “for” some characters, and “against” others.

1. Exclusion of unimportant and irrelevant matter.

α. The “story-teller” in us all.β. The distractions of real life, with its far-relatedness.γ. The “outside” event in melodrama too like life.

α. The “story-teller” in us all.

β. The distractions of real life, with its far-relatedness.

γ. The “outside” event in melodrama too like life.

2. Exclusion of author’s one-sided moral verdict.

3. Must not be “for” some characters, and “against” others.

b.Understanding of Life in novel:

1. False simplicity of poetic justice, of all good, and all bad.2. Cant phrases offend because they appear imitative, not sincere.3. Psychological and dramatic treatment:α. Dramatic writer trusts reader’s insight.β. Action is more convincing than description of motive.4. Humor and wit:α. Humor is knowledge of human nature, its contrasted greatness and littleness.β. Wit is a juggling of words into contrasted or incongruous effects.γ. Both are a bringing together of the incongruous, in a paradox of unity.

1. False simplicity of poetic justice, of all good, and all bad.

2. Cant phrases offend because they appear imitative, not sincere.

3. Psychological and dramatic treatment:

α. Dramatic writer trusts reader’s insight.β. Action is more convincing than description of motive.

α. Dramatic writer trusts reader’s insight.

β. Action is more convincing than description of motive.

4. Humor and wit:

α. Humor is knowledge of human nature, its contrasted greatness and littleness.β. Wit is a juggling of words into contrasted or incongruous effects.γ. Both are a bringing together of the incongruous, in a paradox of unity.

α. Humor is knowledge of human nature, its contrasted greatness and littleness.

β. Wit is a juggling of words into contrasted or incongruous effects.

γ. Both are a bringing together of the incongruous, in a paradox of unity.

Art(Continued)

I.Art in Poetry:

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