Speaker 1: Beautitude. When divine good is practiced, life is bliss. Bliss
is the normal condition of the good man. Those outer assaults, harassments,
and persecutions which bring about such suffering to others only
serve to heighten his happiness, for they cause the deep
fountain of good within him to well up to greater abundance.
To have transcended virtue is to enjoy transcendent happiness. The
beautific blessedness which Jesus holds out is promised to those
having the heavenly virtues, to the merciful, the pure in heart,
the peacemakers, and so on. The higher virtue does not
merely and only lead to happiness. It is happiness. It
is impossible for a man of transcendent virtue to be unhappy.
The cause of unhappiness must be sought and found in
the self loving elements, and not in the self sacrificing qualities.
A man may have virtue and be unhappy, but not
so if he has divine virtue. Human virtue is mingled
with self and therefore with sorrow. But from divine virtue
every taint of self has been purged away, and with
it every vestige of misery. One comparison will suffice to
illustrate this. A man may have the courage of a
lion in attack and self defense, such courage being a
human virtue, but he will not thereby be rendered supremely happy. However,
he whose courage is that of the divine kind, which
enables him to transcend both attack and defense, and to
remain mild, serene, and lovable under attack, such a man
will thereby be rendered supremely happy. Moreover, his assailant will
be rendered more happy, in that a more powerful good
will overcome and cast out the fierce and unhappy evil
the other. The acquisition of human virtue is a great
step towards truth, but the divine way transcends it. Truth
lies upward and beyond. Doing good in order to gain
a personal heaven or personal immortality is human virtue, but
it is not unmixed with self and not emancipated from sorrow.
In the transcendent virtues, all is good, and good is all,
and there is no personal or ulterior aim. Human virtue
is imperfect. It is mixed with the baser selfish elements,
and needs to be transmuted. Divine virtue is unblemished and
pure it is complete and perfect in itself. And what
are the transcendent virtues that embody all happiness and joy.
They are impartiality, the seeing so deeply into the human
heart and into human actions that it becomes impossible to
take sides with one man or one party against the other,
and therefore the power to be perfectly just. Unlimited kindness
towards all men, women, and all creatures, whether enemies or friends.
Perfect patience at all times, in all circumstances and under
the severest trials. Profound humility, the total surrender of self,
the judging of one's own actions as though they were
the actions of another. Stainless purity of mind and deed,
freedom from all evil thoughts and impure imaginings, unbroken calmness
of mind, even in the midst of outward strife or
surrounded by the turmoil of many hardships and difficulties. Abiding
goodness of heart, impervious to evil, returning good for evil. Compassion,
deep pity for all creatures and beings in their sufferings,
shielding the weak and helpless, and protecting out of pity
even one's enemies from injury and slander. Abounding love, towards
all living things, rejoicing with the happy and successful, and
sympathizing with the sorrowing and defeated. Perfect peace toward all things,
being at peace with all the world, a profound reconciliation
to the divine order of the universe. Such are the
virtues that transcend both vice and virtue. They include all
that virtue and bodies, while going beyond it into divine truth.
They are the fruits of innumerable efforts to achieve the
glorious gifts of Him that overcomes. They constitute the ten
jeweled crown prepared for the calm brow of him who
has conquered himself. With these majestic virtues. Is the mind
of the Sage. Adorned by them, he is eternally shielded
from sin and sorrow, from harm and hurt, from trouble
and turmoil. In them, he abides in happiness, a blessedness,
a bliss so pure and tranquil, so deep and high,
so far transcending all the fleeting excitements of self as
to be unknown and incomprehensible to the self seeking consciousness.
The Sage has conquered passion and has come to lasting peace,
as the mighty mountain remains unmoved by the turbulent ocean
that beats at its base. So the mind of the sage,
towering in lofty virtue, remains unshaken by the tempests of
passion which beat unceasingly upon the shores of life good
and wise. He is ever more happy and serene, transcendingly virtuous.
He lives in beautific bliss.