The herald., 1897-04-09
THE BRAHMACHARlN
TALKS BEFORE THE NORMAL
SCHOOL STUDENTS
Self Sacrifice and Love Culture-Phys-
ical and Intellectual Deve1-
opment Valueless

At the Normal school most interest,"
ing talk was given to the students by
the Brahmacharin Bodhabhikshu yes
terday afternoon. This Hindu, who has
been some time in Los Angeles, is flu
ent and intelligent speaker. He wore his
and a white turban was wound around
his head, throwing out in high relief
his dark, expressive face.
His lecture opened with q sketch Of
some elaboration. He then turned his
attention to the mistaken idea he thought
the western world had of education.
Book knowledge was not education. If
we find one whose knowledge makes him
devote his life to some unselfish work
that will benefit society. that will devel-
op his higher nature, then we find true
education. All the deep thoughts of the
great teachers. except few in the west
ern world. have a higher ideal of learn
ing than that of intellectual culture.
Reincarnation, not transmigration, of
soul, is believed in by the thinkers of
the east; the law Of causation governs
all things; nothing in life but is the
result of this law, and each individual
is responsible for the effects. Men are
born and unborn, each time suffering
for the past sin; the individual may,
with time, eliminate all sin and reach
observation-disclosures as Christ was when
lie said. II and my Father are one."
With this idea of reincarnation, with a
continual reaching upward, the educa-
tion in India Is the highest development
of soul. Every time one Is reincarnated
he loses his physical and intellectual be-
ing, only retaining the soul; consequent
ly all the knowledge he has obtained of
facts is lost; only the purse reason re-
mains for the new reincarnation. Some
reincarnations remember past lives;
they are those who develop the highest
nature.
There is no sex In such development.
Sex only exists in the animal mind.
Soul is sexless, so that one may be born
sometimes a man, again a woman. A
strange case is known in London of a
man and wife who have been reincar-
mated innumerable times, and married.
the man being at one time the husband
in another time the wife; the wife. too.
sometimes the wife, again the husband.
Each ego learns its lesson, and then if
well earned, passes on to higher state.
The knowledge of this in India makes
the Hindus value the soul culture above
all else.
No matter how one may study. he will
know but fragment Of anything. Ma
ture's secrets are deep and successive
reincarnations and lifelong study teach
almost nothing. Yet with soul culture one
masters that which seems mysterious
and impossible. Mind reading, clair
voyance. telepathy and those things
which in the western world are Just be-
ginning to be known. but not understood,
are in the east a part OF the divinity irf
the human heart.
The speaker touched on the self-sac-
rifice made by those who studied in In
dia, who entered the family of teacher
as disciple and learned through many
tribulations to develop the higher self.
There was no business relationship. no
money exchange, no pensions. but daily
effort to reach higher development
through suffering. He closed with an
earnest argument on the necessity of
keepi6y before one the ancient thought
Of enlightened philosophy. to study the
life, the simple, noble life of the Master.
which does not seem to be understood in
the western world.