vol. xxx, no. 4 april 1926 universal brotherhood - a fact in nature
vol. xxx, no. 4 april 1926 universal brotherhood - a fact in nature
vol. xxx, no. 4 april 1926 universal brotherhood - a fact in nature
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THE YOUTH OF COUNT TOLSTOY<br />
"And we k<strong>no</strong>w that we come lrom death to life, as soon as we beg<strong>in</strong> to love our<br />
brother. I3e \\ho does <strong>no</strong>t love his brother has <strong>no</strong> immortal life; only he who loves his brother<br />
has lhal i~nr<strong>no</strong>rtal life which is <strong>in</strong> him."- TOLSTOY<br />
HERE is <strong>no</strong> human be<strong>in</strong>g on earth, there is <strong>no</strong> th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g man<br />
or woman, who has <strong>no</strong>t experienced at some crucial po<strong>in</strong>t<br />
of existence a moment of question<strong>in</strong>g and doubt before the<br />
great riddle of life, and who, face to face with the suffer<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
the misery and pa<strong>in</strong> of humank<strong>in</strong>d, has <strong>no</strong>t felt the problem of the Uni-<br />
verse arise <strong>in</strong> the very depths of their souls and overwhelm them with<br />
the mystery of the Great Unk<strong>no</strong>wn.<br />
And yet how many among these same men and women have been<br />
swept away by the current of life, drawn <strong>in</strong>to the turmoil of every-day<br />
existence, <strong>in</strong>to the whirlw<strong>in</strong>d of trivial banalities, and, forgetful of these<br />
rare and precious moments of <strong>in</strong>nerquestion<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the spr<strong>in</strong>gtime of their<br />
life, have lived after all but for the gratification of their personal ambi-<br />
tions, of their selfish desires, and have f<strong>in</strong>ally ended <strong>in</strong> the bl<strong>in</strong>d <strong>no</strong>th<strong>in</strong>g-<br />
ness of a useless worldly life!<br />
It is <strong>no</strong>t to that category of human be<strong>in</strong>gs that belonged Count<br />
Tolstoy, the brilliant writer, the reformer, the so-called apostle of a new<br />
generation, so often misunderstood, so often misrepresented by foes<br />
and friends. He was one of those searchers for Truth who f<strong>in</strong>d death<br />
less terrible than life if they have <strong>no</strong>t solved the mystery of the latter<br />
and have <strong>no</strong>t grasped the hidden mean<strong>in</strong>g of its potentialities. He was<br />
one of those <strong>in</strong>defatigable souls who can<strong>no</strong>t be satisfied with the super-<br />
ficial illusions they meet at every step of life, and are bound to enter <strong>in</strong>to<br />
the deeps of every riddle, <strong>in</strong> order to br<strong>in</strong>g forth the <strong>in</strong>ner essence, the<br />
underly<strong>in</strong>g unity, of all and everyth<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
And it is only if we take the life and the person of Count Tolstoy<br />
from the standpo<strong>in</strong>t of a reformer on spiritual l<strong>in</strong>es and a lover of Truth,<br />
that we shall be able to understand more clearly the tremendous im-<br />
portance and greatness of his <strong>in</strong>dividuality <strong>in</strong> the civilization of the<br />
last fifty years, and especially <strong>in</strong> the national growth and cultural de-<br />
velopment of Russia.<br />
The life of Count Tolstoy could be divided <strong>in</strong>to two parts diametri-<br />
cally opposed to each other: the years between 1870 and 1880 form the<br />
transition-period .which separates these two epochs of his <strong>in</strong>ner growth<br />
and e<strong>vol</strong>ution. Dur<strong>in</strong>g these years a profound re<strong>vol</strong>ution on l<strong>in</strong>es