THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

KarmayogaWE HAVE spoken of Karmayoga asthe application of Vedanta and Yoga to life. To many who taketheir knowledge of Hinduism secondhand this may seem a doubtfuldefinition. It is ordinarily supposed by “practical” minds thatVedanta as a guide to life and Yoga as a method of spiritual communionare dangerous things which lead men away from actionto abstraction. We leave aside those who regard all such beliefsas mysticism, self-delusion or imposture; but even those whoreverence and believe in the high things of Hinduism have theimpression that one must remove oneself from a full human activityin order to live the spiritual life. Yet the spiritual life findsits most potent expression in the man who lives the ordinary lifeof men in the strength of the Yoga and under the law of theVedanta. It is by such a union of the inner life and the outer thatmankind will eventually be lifted up and become mighty anddivine. It is a delusion to suppose that Vedanta contains no inspirationto life, no rule of conduct, and is purely metaphysicaland quietistic. On the contrary, the highest morality of whichhumanity is capable finds its one perfect basis and justificationin the teachings of the Upanishads and the Gita. The characteristicdoctrines of the Gita are nothing if they are not a lawof life, a dharma, and even the most transcendental aspirationsof the Vedanta presuppose a preparation in life, for it is onlythrough life that one can reach to immortality. The opposite opinionis due to certain tendencies which have bulked large in the historyand temperament of our race. The ultimate goal of our religionis emancipation from the bondage of material Nature andfreedom from individual rebirth, and certain souls, among thehighest we have known, have been drawn by the attraction ofthe final hush and purity to dissociate themselves from life andbodily action in order more swiftly and easily to reach the goal.Standing like mountain-peaks above the common level, they haveattracted all eyes and fixed this withdrawal as the highest and