DUTY THAT SPRINGS FROM THE CLAIMS OF THE SPIRIT

 
People should face the circumstances of war with courage and the faith that no sacrifice is too great when the call of duty is clear. In the event of aggressive attack, all must resist it by direct combat if there is no alternative. But as each individual makes such resistance, he must be certain that he is motivated solely by a sense of duty, without hatred or bitterness towards the aggressor, who has acted out of spiritual ignorance.

Further, he must not be insensitive to the suffering inflicted. On the contrary he must render every possible aid to the victims of war.

The fact that a person is a spiritual aspirant does not release him from his duty to the social whole. This may involve some deep soul searching, because spiritual aspirants tend to be indifferent to war on the grounds that most wars are actuated by purely material considerations.

It is a mistake to divorce spirituality from material considerations, for the latter have some spiritual importance. It is not by ignoring human suffering but by handling it with creative love that the gate is opened to life eternal. It is not through callous indifference, but by active and selfless service that one attains the transcendental and illimitable truth that lies at the heart of the illusory universe.

Spiritual aspirants are rooted in the conviction of the reality and the eternity of the infinite Soul. It should be easy for them then to stake life itself on the performance of a duty that springs from the claims of the spirit.