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not lead to the results that we have claimed for it. Spiritual laws are meant to be practised; they will yield no good if repeated even a thousand times a day by rote. A start should be made, and though the full measure of fulness and perfection be not realized all at once, a change for the better would be observed to take place from the very commencement, making it evident that good intention and perseverance are all the conditions necessary for our unfoldment in the fullest possible measure. How is a beginning to be made in respect of proper conduct? Jesus does not tell us anything definite as to this, but wants us to purify our intention. This will keep us from coveting another's property, and will also destroy our illusions. Will in itself is free and irresistible, but, being enmeshed in the net of ignorance, identifies itself with its body, and imagines itself to be limited and finite in power, in consequence. This is the illusion, or bondage. Hence, anything which is calculated to dispel the illusion must also restore the will to its native glory and power. Dharma (religion) or Law, so beautifully summarized in the Sermon on the Mount, aims at this goal, and, if put into practice, proves its own worth. Nor is the working of the Law less striking in the material world. Every wicked thought causes two things to come into existence, namely, fear and worry. We have already seen what these two arch-enemies of mankind are capable of doing. Worry eats away living tissue, and fear renders one susceptible to all evil conditions, physical and mental. The great medical and scientific authorities of Europe and America have at last begun to realize that mental conditions such
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