A TREE WITHOUT ITS LIFE-GIVING SAP

 
Realisation of the Self should not be confused with the intellectual understanding of the Divine Theme. Exceptional exercise of the intellect makes one a philosopher, a poet, a scientist or an artist. But Self-realisation is undeniably the special privilege of those who are mad for God.

Orthodoxy, whether it be Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Zoroastrian, Buddhist or of any other faith, is tolerable only up to a certain point, and only in the earlier phases of the evolution of the masses, since it conserves certain dynamic values coming down through tradition. But it must be of the discriminative type and should not be allowed to degenerate into politics. When orthodoxy denies to itself the spiritual light coming from any quarter, it inevitably reduces itself to a body without a soul, leading to separative ignorance, conflicts and misunderstandings.

Loyalty to the incarnated greatness of the past and mere possession and knowledge of the traditional lore is not all that is to be desired. It may preserve your individuality as a religious and cultural unit and make of you a powerful political factor. But in the spiritual domain, it makes you a nonentity — a tree without its life-giving sap.