This earth, which once seemed such a big place, I behold now as a tiny ball of atoms, spinning in space, warmed by sunshine, with nebulous gases playing around it- a little ball of clay on which various life forms grow. The Word of God (Aum), the Voice of Spirit- the manifestation of the Infinite- is in everything. The disastrous upheavals that take place on this finite sphere are caused by human selfishness; by man’s inharmony with man, and with the hidden Spirit in man and in all creation. Because mankind has not learned the lesson of these catastrophes, the earth continues to suffer devastating storms, earthquakes, floods, diseases, and worse than these, the clouds of war.
There is a way to conquer this world- to conquer nature and to conquer life, with its poverty, disease, wars and other troubles. We must learn this way to victory. Great leaders such as Napoleon, Genghis Khan, William the Conqueror, attained wide dominion over other men and lands. Yet their victories were temporary. The victory that Jesus Christ attained is everlasting. How to achieve this permanent victory? You must start with yourself. You may think it is hopeless to try to conquer hatred and inspire mankind to Christlike ways of love, but never was the need so great as now. Atheistic ideologies are battling to drive religion out. The world is marching on in a wild drama of existence. Trying to stop the raging storms, we seem no more than little ants swimming in the ocean. But do not minimize your power. The real victory consists in conquering yourself, as did Jesus Christ. His self-victory gave him power over all nature.
Science approaches the mastery of nature and of life in another way. Yet the initial promise of scientific discoveries often fails to yield anything permanent. The beneficial effects are felt only for a little while; then something worse comes along to threaten man’s happiness and well-being. Total victory will not come by applying the methods of science alone, because these methods deal with externals, with effects rather than their subtle causes. The world will go on in spite of disasters, and science will again and again make new conquests. But only spiritual science can teach us the way to complete victory.
