n the past all the great Spiritual Teachers have arisen in the
East, there are still many men there who are quite devoid of spirituality.
With regard to the things of the spirit they are as lifeless as a stone;
nor do they wish to be otherwise, for they consider that man is only a
higher form of animal and that the things of God concern him not.

But man's ambition should soar above this--he should ever look higher than
himself, ever upward and onward, until through the Mercy of God he may
come to the Kingdom of Heaven. Again, there are men whose eyes are only
open to physical progress and to the evolution in the world of matter.
These men prefer to study the resemblance between their own physical body
and that of the ape, rather than to contemplate the glorious affiliation
between their spirit and that of God. This is indeed strange, for it is
only physically that man resembles the lower creation, with regard to his
intellect he is totally unlike it.

Man is always progressing. His circle of knowledge is ever widening, and
his mental activity flows through many and varied channels. Look what man
has accomplished in the field of science, consider his many discoveries
and countless inventions and his profound understanding of natural law.

In the world of art it is just the same, and this wonderful development of
man's faculties becomes more and more rapid as time goes on. If the
discoveries, inventions and material accomplishments of the last fifteen
hundred years could be put together, you would see that there has been
greater advancement during the last hundred years than in the previous
fourteen centuries. For the rapidity with which man is progressing
increases century by century.

The power of the intellect is one of God's greatest gifts to men, it is
the power that makes him a higher creature than the animal. For whereas,
century by century and age by age man's intelligence grows and becomes
keener, that of the animal remains the same. They are no more intelligent
today then they were a thousand years ago! Is there a greater proof than
this needed to show man's dissimilarity to the animal creation? It is
surely as clear as day.

As for the spiritual perfections they are man's birthright and belong to
him alone of all creation. Man is, in reality, a spiritual being, and only
when he lives in the spirit is he truly happy. This spiritual longing and
perception belongs to all men alike, and it is my firm conviction