\opment of the human being in himself, the
perfectibility j iof the individual, a full development of the collective, 'J
;being, the perfectibility of society, and, more pragmatically :; "
restricted, the perfect or best possible relations of indi~ :: vidual with
individual and society and of community ;with community .An exclusive or
dominant, emphasis is claid sometimes on the individual, sometimes on the
:collectivity or society, sometimes on a right and balanced relation between
the individual and the collective human:. whole. One idea holds up the growing
life, freedom or per- cfection of the human individual as the true object of
our , existence,-whether the ideal be merely a free self-expression ;:of the
personal being or a self-governed whole of complete mind, fine and ample life
and perfect body, or a spiritual perfection and liberation. In this view
society is there only as a field of activity and growth for the individual man
and ,~ serves best its function when it gives as far as possible a wide room,
ample means, a sufficient freedom or guidance of development to his thought,
his action, his growth, his possibility .of fullness of being. An opposite
idea' gives the collective life the first or the sole importance; the
existence,
r!t serve that power of life, consent only to exist as
an ins~rume ~ ~~~i!'. for the maintenance and efficiency of the
collectiveexistenc ct:: .In another idea the perfection of man lies in his
ethical aI
; .~.: social relations with other men; he is a social
being and h , i:..; to live for society, for others, for his utility to the race:
tJ 1-. society also is there for the service of all, to give them the
: ;['~: right relation, education, training, economic
opportunit ; ~" .right frame of life. In the ancient cultures the greatest
eI ~ !:": phasis was laid on the com~unity .and the fitting of ti
, c~: individual into the community, but also there
grew up ~ -::: idea of the perfected individual; in ancient India it was ti €:
\ idea of the spiritual individual that was dominant, but ti ;-:~\: society was
of extreme importance because in it and undt
" ~:. its moulding influence the individual had
to pass first throug f : the social status of the physical, vital, mental being
wit " his satisfaction of interests, desire, pursuit of knowledge aD right
living before he could reach fitness for a truer seJ realisation and a free
spiritual existence. In recent times ti whole stress has passed to the life of
the race, to a sear( for the perfect society and latterly to a concentration on
tI right organisation and scientific mechanisation of the li of mankind as a
whole; the individual now tends to 1: regarded only as a member of the
collectivity, a unit of t1J race whose existence must be subordinated to the
comlnd aiInS and total interests of the organised society, and muc less or not
at all as a mental or spiritual being with his ow right and power of existence.
This tendency has not y< reached its acme everywhere, but everywhere it is
rapid! increasing and heading towards dominance.
Thus, in the vicissitudes of human thought, on one sid
the individual is moved or invited to discover and pursu his own
se1f-affirmation, his own development of mind, ill
is only by finding that in ourselves that we can solve
the .. problel1l of our existence and with it the problem of the true ~ way of
individual and communal living. .~
There is a Reality, a truth of all existence which is
greater :: and more abiding than all its formations and manifestations ; to
find that truth and Reality and live in it, achieve the most perfect
manifestation and formation possible of it, must be the secret of perfection
whether of individual or communal being. This Reality is there within each
thing and gives to each of its formations its power of being and value of
being. The universe is a manifestation of Reality, and there is a truth of the
universal existence, a power of cosmic being, an all-self or world-spirit.
Humanity is a formation or manifesta- , cion of the Reality in the universe and
there is a truth and self of humanity, a human spirit, a destiny of human life.
The community is a formation of the Reality, a manifes- tation of the spirit of
man, and there is a truth, a self, a power of the collective being. The
individual is a formation of the Reality, and there is a truth of the
individual, an individual self, soul or spirit that expresses itself through
the individual mind, life and body, something even that goes beyond
.which constitute it, still it does .not constitute
their who life. If it has its being which it seeks to affirm by the life I the
individuals, the individual also has a being of his ow which he seeks to affirm
in the life of the community. But 1 is not tied to that, he can affirm himself
in another gener: life, or, if he is strong enough, in a nomad existence or j
'an ermite solitude where, if he cannot pursue or achieve complete material
living, he can spiritually exist and fiD his own reality and indwelling self of
being.
The individual is indeed the key of the evolutionary
mov, ment; for it is the individual who finds himself, who becoml conscious of
the Reality. The movement of the collectivil is a largely subconscious mass
movement; it has to formula and express itself through the individu~ls to
become consciou
, spiritual freedom, but this freedom is not something
entirely separate from all-existence; it has a solidarity with it because c
that too is the self, the same spirit. As he moves towards spiritual freedom,
he moves also towards spiritual oneness. ;' ; The spiritually realised; the
liberated man is preoccupied, ~ ~says the Gita~ with the good of all beings.
Buddha discovering ~ fthe way of NIrvana must turn back to open that way to
those :: cccwho are still under the delusion of their constructive instead
c iof their real being-or non-being; Vivekananda, drawn
by ;c the Absolute, feels also the call of the disguised Godhead in ~chumanity
and most the call of the fallen and the suffering, i the call of the self to
the selfin the obscure body of the universe.
' :cFor the awakened individual the realisation of his
truth of .fbeing and his inner liberation and prefection must be his
"primary seeking,-first, because that is the call
of the Spirit '\ ~cwithin ~im, but also because it is only by liberatiori and
,cprefection and realisation of the truth of being that man can ,arrive at
truth of living. A perfected community also can
~exist only by
the perfection of its individuals, and perfection :<:an come only by the
discovery and affirmation in life by c;each of his own spiritual being and the
discovery by all of r::their spiritual unity and a resultant life unity. There
can be I,no real perfection for us except by our inner self and truth 'of
spiritual existence taking up all truth of the instrumental