Evening star., 1925-08-12

The world admits the truth and JUS
tice of many precepts which il does
not practice.
Among them is the mystical for
mula of the Vedas, Tut twan asi,
This is thyself," spoken with refer
ence to every living thing, "be 1t man
or beast" Schopenhauer tells us.
This is thyself.
SO the Hindoo mystic q use the
term Hindoo very loosely thinks of
the lesser creatures of earth, the
tigers, elephants, monkeys, snakes, in
sects, fishes. birds.
Each thing that has life is to him
something TO be treasured, not to be
made into chops for his breakfast,
neckpieces for his wife or playthings
for his children.
Ancient Egypt, remote in time and
customs, held somewhat similar re-
gard for certain animals. notably the
cat, which was revered as a sacred
animal
This veneration, however, was far
short of the Nedic principle. This is
thyself." spoken of every living thing.
The latter voices a deep truth which
the average person, then or now,
would be willing to admit-theoreti-
cally.
Unless everything about us came
into being through mere chance, the
tortuituous combination of atoms,
as the great Roman poet. Lucretius,
said, every living thing must have
had a common Creator.
All are, then, brothers in the larger
sense. This was the sublime message
of the Old Testament, a message
which was written in shining letters
of gold forever in the New Testament.
v x 4
Yet how few even begin to practice
it?
Perhaps, in this very practical world
in which we live, it is impossible.
Maybe it will require another world,
as we have been told, for this humane
principle to be carried out in fact
as we believe in ii in truth.
Yet 1t is encouraging to know that
to a certain extent, at least, thousands
of persons do follow the formula:
This is thyself."
Unconsciously they regard each
beast they meet as they would like
to be regarded themselves. There is
no self conscious application of the
golden rule, however.
Such persons have an interest in
animals that strikes down into the
very fiber of their being. To them
anything that lives is thing of
beauty and interest.
Some creatures, such as snakes,
they fear, but even then would will
ingly trade their fear for favor. Ger
tain bugs" such as mosquitoes, they
ruthlessly slay, not being at all silly
about such things, for in everything
there must be a dividing line.
In the main, however, they are
faithful followers of the principle,
This is thyself." Not being cruel
to themselves, they are not cruel to
other animals. How could they be
otherwise?
1 have a letter from such a one
on my desk before me. 1t reads in
part:
II have kept myself from writing
you many a time when L have wanted
TO. but this time l just must rejoice
with you in the recovery of our friend
Jack Spratt.
Each day when l scanned This
and That, hoping for Jacks return.
and found Epictetus and Marcus Azure
Illus, am afraid I did not give suffi-
cient attention to the latter's phi
losophy and meditations.
My love for and interest in ami
mails has kept me a constant reader
of your column. 1t is a splendid work
you are doing. this educating the
public at large in animals and giving
pleasure to those who already know
and love them.
Wouldn't it be a lonely world