My subject this evening is "The Culture of the Soul." There are many in the world who perhaps do not believe that there is a soul. Some think there may be a soul, others believe there is a soul, but do not know what it is. Man's life can be divided into two aspects. One aspect is the part of his life which is comprehensible to himself, and the other that part of his life which is unknown to him, that is the soul. The eyes cannot see themselves, but as they can see all other things we know that we have eyes to see. So the soul is our real self, and the soul which sees all things cannot see itself, but the very fact that the whole universe is reflected in it must prove to a deep thinker that there is a soul.

No doubt people of different nations and the followers of different religions imagine and explain the soul differently, and no doubt that for a student to know more about the soul by the study of different scriptures and books is difficult, almost impossible. When somebody went to the Prophet Muhammad and asked him for an explanation of the soul, the Prophet replied, "The soul is an activity of God." It is so true and yet it explains nothing to a person who wishes for the explanation in words.

All things that are comprehensible words can explain, but for the soul which passes beyond human comprehension, words are too inadequate to explain fully. But the question, "How can a person then realize his soul?" can be answered, "By the inner culture."

There are two ways of learning. Learning from within, and learning from without. What we learn from without is called 'learning,' and what we learn from within 'the inner cult.' People very often confuse intellect with wisdom. Often people use the word 'wisdom' for 'intellect' and 'intellect' for 'wisdom.' Also people confuse 'clever' with 'wise' and 'wise' with 'clever.' In point of fact the wise can be clever, but the worldly clever is not necessarily wise. While wisdom is learnt from within, intellectual knowledge is gained from without. As it is necessary to live in the world so intellectual knowledge must be attained, but it is still more necessary to satisfy our soul's longing, to attain inner knowledge which is called wisdom. As eyes without the power of sight are blind, so without illumination of the soul intellectual knowledge is but a mist.

When a soul is born on earth it brings from above the sight, which is the light of the soul, but as the infant grows in the world so his intelligence, covered by impressions coming from the external world, covers the light, until, instead of simple curtains the volumes of impressions so to speak build a wall, covering man's eyes from his own light, the light which man inherits as his divine inheritance. In the Bible it is said, "Raise your light on high, nobody should cover the light under a bushel."

Man's external being becomes in time as a tomb upon the light which is within him, covering it from his own light and leaving him in the darkness. The pursuit of the seekers after Truth is the pursuit of this light; the best known of the stories in the "Arabian Nights," Aladdin, in pursuit of a lantern, is symbolic of this idea. What is necessary first in the pursuit of this light is to waken the faculty of love which generally becomes frozen by the disagreeable experiences of life. No doubt love is divine, it is a divine stream; but if a person has lost his patience before touching this divine stream, which is in the depth of the earth he finds himself in the mud, for the water is still deeper. The first lesson of love is selflessness, and it is the awakening of love in the heart of man which is the re-birth, the true beginning of his life. The story of Aladdin says that he had first loved the princess, and it was she who desired that lantern to be brought, that led him in the path of light.

It is the love element which should be awakened instead of an intellectual research after Truth. How many there are who are searching for Truth in books. Let them study in libraries, there are more books than they can read throughout their whole life. Others are seeking after phenomena, wonder-working. Some wish to communicate with spirits, others wish to acquire some magnetic or some magic power to accomplish their life's purpose. They are not seeking after Truth, they are seeking after the things which often make man more selfish, more superstitious, more confused, more covered and more stupid.

The only longing the soul has is to touch its own depths, to find its own beauty, its riches, its own happiness and its peace. It is as if the soul had possessed a domain and this domain had been taken from it. It is said in the story of Aladdin that after setting out on the journey in the path of love, he found a Dervish sitting by the wayside, and he asked him gently where that lantern was, and how he could reach the place. That explains that the spiritual guide and teacher, who is called in the language of the Hindus 'Guru', is needed for one to proceed in the pursuit of the light. No-one in the East would think for a moment of journeying in the spiritual path without guidance.

How many in the Western world, working on their own by reading books of Hindu Yoga, have lost their track and confused their minds, for there is always the danger of losing one's mind when a person plays with the great cult without the personal guidance of a teacher. Even in order to sing the producer of voice must be consulted; when ill a physician's advice is necessary. Man himself is not self-sufficient, in every walk of life guidance is necessary. But there comes another important phase which has little to do with the teacher, it is the responsibility of the pupil. The teacher shows the way, but the pupil must journey. If the teacher shows the way and the pupil sits still, after a thousand years he is still there where he was, and it is not the fault of the teaching.

In the spiritual cult, first faith and confidence is needed, trust is needed first in the self and next in the guide who shows the way. Then comes a period of mist when one does not know if the train is going forwards or backwards, and it is possible that when it goes backwards it seems to go forward, and when it goes forward it seems to go backwards; and it is natural that when it is standing still one feels that it is going, and when going it may seem to be standing still. Man too anxious about his progress, will lose his battle, but the one who trusts and hopes, who is firm and steady, not curious but serious, who goes into it wholeheartedly, must sooner or later win his battle.

Once the light is gained, once the lantern of Aladdin is in hand then the path in this world and the next is clear, a path which is full of thorns, full of pits, full of dangers of all kinds, a path full of difficulties for rich and poor, strong and weak, for the sensible and for fools, that path then becomes easier, strength comes by itself. Life at every step seems more in one's control, and at every station of the journey there comes a new hope, new experiences, new life, new strength, besides the light, beauty, joy and peace, which are so to speak, the kingdom of man's soul.