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Insight and nobility in the pursuit and
practice of virtue. There at last comes

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a time when a divine insight dawns
upon the mind. It searches into the

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causes and principles of things, which, once attained, establishes its possessor firmly

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in virtue. It renders him invulnerable
to the assaults of temptation, and invincible

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in his work for the world.
When the understanding is ripened by the culture

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of virtue, vicious inclinations disappear,
and wrongdoing becomes impossible. When individual conduct

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is perceived as an unbroken series of
causes and effects, the perceiving mind finally

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decides for virtue, and the lower
selfish elements are just cast away forever until

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a man perceives the just law which
operates in human life. Whatever virtue he

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may manifest at any given time,
he is not firmly established in nobility of

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character. He is not fully armored
with righteousness, and is not safely lodged

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in his final refuge. Not having
acquired that perfect insight which no good and

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evil, and which perceives the effects
of all deeds, both good and bad,

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he breaks down when assailed by temptation, at those points in his character

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which are not well fortified, those
which have so far dimmed his spiritual insight

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and barred him from perfect vision.
By thus breaking down, he discovers that

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within which has hindered him, and
by setting to work to remove the hindrance,

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he ascends still higher in the scale
of virtue, and approaches nearer to

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the perfect insight into the true order
of life which makes a man divine.

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Under certain circumstances, a man held
in restraint by the influence of friends,

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by a custom and environment, and
not by his own inherent purity and strength,

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will appear to have and may believe
he possesses a virtue of which he

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knows nothing in reality, and his
lack of such virtue only appears when all

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outward restraints are withdrawn, and under
temptation, the concealed weakness and vice make

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themselves manifest. On the other hand, the man of superior virtue will seem,

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in a familiar environment to be much
the same as his weaker fellows,

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and his virtue will not be apparent
to those about him. But when he

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suddenly brought into contact with great temptations
or extraordinary events, his latent virtue appears

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in all its beauty and strength.
Insight destroys the dominion of evil and reveals

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the faultless operation of the good law. The man of perfect insight cannot sin

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because he fully understands the nature of
good and evil. And it is impossible

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for one who knows good and evil
in all their ramifications of cause and effect,

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to choose the evil and reject the
good. Just as the sane man

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would not choose ashes in preference to
food, so the spiritually awakened man would

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not choose evil in preference to good. The presence of sin is an indication

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of self delusion and of ignorance.
The spiritual vision is warped or undeveloped,

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and there is confusion of mind concerning
the nature of good and evil. In

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the early stages of virtue, a
man arrays himself against the forces of evil,

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which appear to him to be overpowering
in their might and almost, if

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not entirely, unconquerable. But with
the advent of insight, a new light

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is thrown upon the nature of things, and evil appears as it actually is,

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a small, dark, powerless thing, a mere negation, and not

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a formidable force or combination of forces. The man of insight knows that the

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root of evil is ignorance and not
an intelligent power, and that all sin

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and suffering proceed therefrom Thus, knowing
evil to be merely a deprivation of good,

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he cannot hate it, but manifest
compassion for all sinning and suffering beings.

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Indeed, he who has so far
conquered the evil in his own heart

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as to know the nature and source
of evil, cannot possibly hate, dislike,

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or despise any being, no matter
how far removed from virtue it may

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be. But while fully perceiving the
degradation of character, he understands the dark

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spiritual condition from which such degradation springs, and so he pities and helps,

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where without insight he would hate and
despise. Love ever attends upon insight,

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and pity waits on knowledge. That
insight, which proceeds from self purification and

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long acquaintance with virtue, makes itself
manifest in the form of ripeness of character.

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There is an unchanging strength and sweetness, combined, a clearness of intellect,

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a viral strength of will, and
a gentleness of heart, a combination

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which denotes a cultured, mellowed,
perfect being. One who has acquired sympathy,

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compassion, purity, and wisdom.
Thus, while quote goodness gives insight,

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unquote insight renders goodness permanent fixes the
mind and love and practice of all

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that is pure and noble, and
stamps upon a man's brow the seal of

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divinity. The man whose goodness is
of the kind that does not alter with

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altered environment or with the changing altitudes
of those around him, has reached the

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divine goodness. He understands the supreme
good. He's no longer concerned with evil

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as a thing that can harm,
but he is concerned good only, and

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so he ignores evil and recognizes only
good. He perceives that men commit evil

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out of the mistaken idea of good, and thus perceiving no hatred can enter

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his peaceful heart. The life of
such a man is powerful, no matter

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how obscure it may be, for
goodness is the most powerful thing in the

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world. The fact of his living
and moving among men confers incalculable benefit upon

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the race, although during his lifetime
this may not be perceived or understood.

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So powerful is goodness that the destiny
of the world was, is, and

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will be in the hands of the
good Those who are good are the guides

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and emancipators of humanity in the present
period of its development. They are taking

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the race rapidly along its evolutionary journey. And this not in any mystical or

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miraculous sense, but in a very
practical and normal sense, by their exemplary

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lives and the power of their deeds. The good men who help the world

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are not wonder workers, though undeveloped
minds have ever tried to make them so

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such, but the workers of righteousness, servants of the good law. The

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world never was, is not,
and will not be under the dominion of

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evil, for such a condition would
mean non existence, evil being merely the

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negation of good, as darkness is
the negation of light. It is light

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and not darkness, which is the
sustaining power. Evil is the weakest thing

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in the world and cannot accomplish anything. The universe not only makes for good.

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The universe is good, and evil
always falls short and fails. Inside

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is the seeing in the light of
truth, that light which is the revealer

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of all things, as the light
of day reveals all objects in the world

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in their proper forms. So when
the light of truth enters the mind,

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it reveals all things of life in
their proper proportions. He who searches his

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own heart, by the aid of
truth, searches all hearts. He who,

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by long searching, has perceived the
perfect law which is operative in his

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mind, has revealed the divine law, which is the stay and substance of

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the universe. Inside disperses error and
puts an end to superstition. Sin is

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the only error. Men attack each
other's beliefs and remain in ignorance. When

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they get rid of their own sins, they will become enlightened. Superstition springs

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from sin. Looking through dark and
eyes, men see evil things, which

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are delusions of ignorance, conceiving in
their hearts and lawful things. Their imagination

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is troubled with monsters and terrors,
which have no existence in reality. Where

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there is pure insight, there is
no fear, devils, demons, wrathful

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and jealous gods, vampires and evil
spirits, and all the hideous hosts of

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ideological monsters have vanished from the universe, along with the feverish nightmare which gave

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birth to them. And before erect
gaze of the purified one, there spreads

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a universe of orderly beauty and inviolate
law. The man of insight loves in

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the beautific vision of the saints,
not as a fleeting experience in a moment

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of exceptional purity, but as a
constant, normal condition of mind. He

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has completed his long journey through self
and sorrow and is at peace. He

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has conquered and is glad. He
sees all the sin, misery, and

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pain that are in the world more
plainly and vividly than other men. But

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he now sees it as it is
in its cause inception, growth, and

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fruitage, not as it appeared to
him when he was blindly involved in it

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and his mind was distorted by impurities. He watches the growth of beings from

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the immature to the mature, through
periods of change and pain, with tender

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compassion and solicitude, as the mother
watches the growth of a child through the

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helpless period of its infancy. He
sees justice operating in all things. While

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men are waxing wrathful over the triumph
of Wrome, he knows that wrong has

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not triumphed, but is brought to
naught. He sees the overruling right,

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which, though concealed from worldly eyes, remains forever unshaken. He sees the

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littleness, the peeny, weakness,
and the blind folly of evil, as

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compared with the majesty, invincible power, and the all seeing wisdom of good.

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And thus knowing and seeing, his
mind is finally fixed in that which

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is good. He is devoted to
truth, and his delight is in the

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doing of righteousness. When insight is
born in the mind, reality stands revealed,

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not a metaphysical reality distinct from the
universe, not a speculative reality other

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than the things of life, but
the reality of the universe itself, the

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reality of things in themselves. Insight
is triumphant of a change in decay,

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for it perceives the abiding in change, the eternal, in the transient,

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the immortal, in the things which
pass away. And herein is the meaning

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of that fixed nobility of character of
the saints and sages, and superlatively of

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the great teachers of the race.
That they perceive and abide in reality,

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they know life in its completion.
They underst stand and obey the righteous law.

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Having conquered self, they have conquered
all delusions, have triumphed over sin.

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They have triumphed over sorrow, having
purified themselves, they see the perfect

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cosmos. He who chooses the right, the pure, the good, and

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clings to them through all misunderstandings,
insults, and defeat, reaches at last

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the place of insight, and his
eyes open upon the world of truth.

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Then his painful discipline is ended,
the lower conditions no more affect him or

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cause him sorrow. Purity and joy
abide with him, and the universe again

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rejoices in the triumph of good and
hails another conqueror.