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MYSTICISM IN INDIA
same thing. Truth wherever found is always one. The history of the world all round bears ample testimony to this. What relation do ethics bear either to religion or science ? Thou shalt not commit murder ? Why ? The theologian would say--because that is the commandment of God. The materialist would saybecaue that is the command of the ruling authority. But why should God and Sovereign issue such commands? There is no rational reply. A system of ethics not based on the rational demonstration of the Universe is of no practical value. It is only a system of ethics of individual opinions and individual con. venience. It has no solidity and therefore no strength. The aim of human existence is happiness, progress and all ethics teach how to attain the one and achieve the other. The question however remains-what is happiness and what is progress? These are issues not yet solved in any Satisfactory manner by the known system of ethics. The reason is not far to seek, The modern tendency is to separate ethics from physics or rational demonstration of the Universe and thus make it a science resting on nothing but the irregular whims and caprices of individuals and nations.
In India ethics have ever been associated with religion. Religion has ever been an attempt to solve the mystery of nature, to understand the phenomena of nature and to realize the place of man in nature, Every religion has its philosophical as well as ethical aspect
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