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Lesson V: Karma Yoga.321
rush, while their soul stands apart from the fray. They will live the same life
and do the same things as their undeveloped brothers—that is, apparently—
but they will know the truth and keep themselves free from being drawn
into the machinery, or entangled in the nets.
We are asked frequently, “What would become of things if everyone
were to follow your teachings?” We might answer that the whole structure
of modern life would fall to pieces, to be succeeded by something infinitely
better. But there is no need for this answer, because there is no likelihood
of the majority of the race accepting these teachings in the near future. A
greater number are accepting them every day, but at the best, those who
accept and live them will be but a handful in the crowd of those who live
and act. Many years of struggle, and trial—endeavor and experiment—must
come before the race, as a whole, is ready to take even the first step toward
improvement. We say this, not in sadness, but philosophically, knowing
that all the struggle and pain is a necessary part of the evolution of the
race. (When we speak of “these teachings” we do not refer to the particular
presentation of the truth given through us, but to the various forms of these
teachings which are being given through hundreds of teachers of the various
schools at this time.)
One of the first things to be learned by the Karma Yogi is that he is a
unit in the whole machinery or plan of life. He has his place and must take
his part in the work. But, no matter how important his position—or how
responsible a place he is called upon to fill—he is but a unit in the plan, and
must be willing to be used in accordance with that plan. And however lowly
or unimportant he may seem to be, he is still a unit having a purpose and
work. Nothing is unimportant, and the most important is still subject to the
law underlying the plan. We must all play our parts—play them well—not
only because we are working out our own development and evolution, but
also because we are being used by the Divine Mind as a pawn, or higher
piece, in the great game of life. Not that we are mere automatons—far from
that—but that our interests are bound up with that of the race, and we