hile those who exercise patience, and who
listen calmly and dispassionately to all sides, and both arrive themselves
at, and incline others to, thoughtful and unbiased conclusions upon all
problems and issues, have Truth in fullest measure. The final test of
wisdom is this,--how does a man live? What spirit does he manifest? How
does he act under trial and temptation? Many men boast of being in
possession of Truth who are continually swayed by grief, disappointment,
and passion, and who sink under the first little trial that comes along.
Truth is nothing if not unchangeable, and in so far as a man takes his
stand upon Truth does he become steadfast in virtue, does he rise superior
to his passions and emotions and changeable personality.

Men formulate perishable dogmas, and call them Truth. Truth cannot be
formulated; it is ineffable, and ever beyond the reach of intellect. It can
only be experienced by practice; it can only be manifested as a stainless
heart and a perfect life.

Who, then, in the midst of the ceaseless pandemonium of schools and creeds
and parties, has the Truth? He who lives it. He who practices it. He who,
having risen above that pandemonium by overcoming himself, no longer
engages in it, but sits apart, quiet, subdued, calm, and self-possessed,
freed from all strife, all bias, all condemnation, and bestows upon all the
glad and unselfish love of the divinity within him.

He who is patient, calm, gentle, and forgiving under all circumstances,
manifests the Truth. Truth will never be proved by wordy arguments and
learned treatises, for if men do not perceive the Truth in infinite
patience, undying forgiveness, and all-embracing compassion, no words can
ever prove it to them.

It is an easy matter for the passionate to be calm and patient when they
are alone, or are in the midst of calmness. It is equally easy for the
uncharitable to be gentle and kind when they are dealt kindly with, but he
who retains his patience and calmness under all trial, who remains
sublimely meek and gentle under the most trying circumstances, he, and he
alone, is possessed of the spotless Truth. And this is so because such
lofty virtues belong to the Divine, and can only be manifested by one who
has attained to the highest wisdom, who has relinquished his passionate and
self-seeking nature, who has realized the supreme and unchangeable Law, and
has brought himself into harmony with it.

Let men, therefore, cease from vain