The Inner Life
THE HERALD OF THE NEW AGE | NOVEMBER 1933
So long as they endure, existing governments will not abandon policies of selfishness; they will not surrender institutions which yield rewards and power to grasping minorities. Until these have been overturned there can be no justice as between nations, and Wisdom can gain no hearing.
Therefore the work of healing and of reformation must be first wrought in the hearts of men. In the hearts and minds of those who come after us we must implant the seeds of right Principle and true Ideal. From these shall spring a New Order, an era of Righteousness and the happiness of simple things. It is upon the foundations of Right Thought and Right Action that the Temple of a Universal and Spiritual Brotherhood will be raised.
§ 4
Reformation, to accomplish real or lasting good, must deal with Principles: it is therefore out of favour with parties. To toss the wand of office from one set of self-seekers to another will accomplish nothing. Men will drown in the turbulent torrent of Democracy as quickly, and perchance more painfully, than in any other political sea.
Neither is there any valediction in violence. That the poor should plunder, is as great a violation of Principle as that the rich should oppress. If we but rob Peter to pay Paul, no man is the gainer: not thus may we increase our wealth or our happiness, we but add to the sum total of hatred and misery. There is no more of saving grace in a red flag than in one of any other colour.
It is time that men ceased from the follies of flag-worship. A flag is a symbol of selfishness, it has ever stood for collective or national self-interest, and the selfishness of nations is no more praiseworthy than that of individ-
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