Could the people live all in America or in Jerusalem?
Could all live in the same period? If happiness were in riches, in health or in beauty, how unhappy would be the lot of all the poor, the aged, the sick and the homely. Could God deprive all these of happiness ? No, thanks be to God. He has made the difficult things superfluous. He has arranged it so that there is no happiness In riches, or in honors, or in beauty of the body. Happiness is in one thing only—in the goodness of life, and that is in every nun's power.
5. Men pray to God to help them in the thii^ that are outside of them, and God is always ready to help them in the things that are within them. Or else they would have Him help them as they desire, and not as He would help them.
6. To importune God for blessings in this ilfe is the same as to sit by the side of a spring of water and to pray to it for deliverance from thirst. Bend down and drink. The fulness of blessings has been granted us. We must only know how to make use of it.
7. \l you will reckon that a blessing which is outside of yourself, you will be unhappy always. Realize that a blessing is only that which is in your power, and no (Hie will be able to rob you of your happiness.
VHI.
Man is Only then Unconscious of the Blessedness of lafe if He Fails to Fulfil the Law of Life
1. If you ask: "Why does evil exist?" I answer with the question: "Why does life exist?" The evil exists so that there may be life. Life is manifested ш emancipation from evil.
2, If lite does not appear to you a great and unmerited joy it is only because your reason is wroi^fly directed.
3. If the life of the people is not full of joy, it is because they fail to do that which is needful in order to make life a constant joy.
4. If we say that our life is not blessedness, we inevitably allow it to be understood thereby that we know of a higher blessing than life. And yet we do not know, nor indeed can we know any higher blessing than life. And therefore if life does not appear to us to be a blessing, it is not life which is in any way to blame for it, but we ourselves.
5. If any man says that though doing good he feels unhappy, it merely proves that what he considers good is not good. ,
6. Know and remember that if a man is unhappy, it is his own fault. People are only then unhappy when they desire something that they can not have; but they are happy then when they desire something that they can have.
What is it that the people can not always have though they desire it, and what is it that they can always have when they desire it?
People can not always have, though they desire them, the things that are not in their power, things that do not belong to them, things that others can take away from them—^all these things are not in the power of men. But only those things are in the power of men which neither any man nor anything in the world can interfere with.
Among the first are all worldly boons—riches, honors and health. And the other thing is our soul, our spiritual perfecting. And just those things are in our power which are more needful than anything else for our happiness, because no worldly boons can give true happiness but merely always deceive. But true happiness comes Irom our efforts
to come closer to spiritual perfection, and these efforts are always in our power.
We have been treated as a kindly father treats his children: Only those things have been withheld from us which can not give us happiness. But all things that are needful to us have been granted us. Epiclctus.
7. A man spoils his stomach and complains of his dinner. Even so with the ресф1е who are dissatisfied with life.
We have no right to be dissatisfied with this life. If it seems to us that we are dissatisfied with it, it merely proves that we have good grounds to be dissatisfied with ourselves.
8. A man loses his way and comes to a river which obstructs his path, and he complains that he who sent him on his journey had deceived him; he wrings his hands in despair, leaps into the river cursing him that sent him and is destroyed, but he refuses to understand that on the road from which he had strayed there were bridges and all conveniences for traveling. Even so with the people who stray from the one true path of life. They are dissatisfied with life and frequently destroy themselves, because having strayed from the right path they refuse to acknowledge their mistake.
9. Do not think that failure to comprehend the meaning of human life and being perplexed thereby is either lofty or tragical. Such perplexity is akin to the perplexity of a man who drops into a company of people eng^^d in the reading of a good book. The perplexity of this man who neither will listen nor understand that which is being read but insists on annoying with his fidgeting people who are worthily engaged has nothing lofty or tragical in it, but is ridiculous, absurd and pitiable.
JO. A man who is unused to luxury and accidentally
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finds himself in luxurious surroundings may pretend in order to raise himself in the estimation of others that he is so accustomed to luxury as not only not to marvel at it, but even treat it with disdain: even so a man who pretends to have a lofty view of the world and to disdain the joys of life, acts as though he is bored with life and can imagine something far superior to it.
11. There was once a benefactor who sought to do as much good to the people as possible and began to think how he could arrange it so as not to offend anyone and yet to benefit all. To give things to people direct would make it difficult to judge what to give to this and that one, who is worthy above his fellow, and how to even up things. Those who got less would complain, saying: "Why did you give to him, and not to me?"
And he conceived the idea of establishing an inn in some place where multitudes of people were wont to congregate. And in this inn he gathered all sorts of things that pertained to human necessity and pleasure. He arranged comfortable rooms, with convenient fireplaces, fuel, light, spacious bams full of all sorts of grain, vaults filled with vegetables, various fruits and beverages, beds and bedding, raiment and linen and footwear, enough for a vast multitude. This did the benefactor and departed, waiting to see what would happen.
And there came to the inn sundry good people who ate and drank and lodged, some a day or two, others a week or more, taking now a little raiment, or footwear, as they had need. And on departing they would bring all things in order just as they had found them, so that other strangers might use the conveniences, and passing on they only knew enough to give thanks to their unknown benefactor.
But before long bold, insolent and unkind men entered the inn. They looted the supplies and began to quarrel among themselves because of their loot. First they merely argued, then they fought and began to take things one from the other hy force, destroying much property with malice, merely in order to deprive others of its use. And when they got so far as to ruin everything in sight they began to freeze and starve, suffering hurt one from the other, and before long they blamed the master of the inn for his poor arrangements, for failing to provide watchmen, or to store enough supplies, and for admitting bad people. But stil! others claimed that there never had been a landlord and that the inn had come about of itself.
And these men departed from the inn hungry, cold and wrathful, and all they knew was to curse one another and the inn and him who had built it.
Even as they who living for their body instead of living for their soul, despoil their lives and the lives of others, and condemn one another instead of themselves, or God, if they acknowledge Him, or the world, if they do not acknowledge God and suppose that the world came about of itself.