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CHAPTER TWENTY
Man's relation to the Universe*
The object of this course, of which this is the last lectures, is to get a concise idea how to think rightly and to study the different view and philosophies so as to arrive at the truth.
The first and second lectures dealt with the canon of interpretation, the others treated of the idea of the various systems of philosophy with regard to the soul; the law of causation, and spiritual consciousness. We have now to consider what is man's place in the universe : what is his object, and how is he going to accomplish it.
Man's present state is the result of all his previous existences and of a long continued evolution. The evolution of the soul from the archaic state to the present is a wonderful panorama. A great philosopher of India has said that the intelligent entity that now lives in the human body has come this low archaic condition and has accomplished half its round only. The other half is easy to that man who can conquer ignorance and erroneous idea of things.
There is no ready made path for us. The first step is to realise the difference between the real and the unreal, between spiritual * Extract of a lecture delivered in Washington.
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