Chapter 3

by Rabindranath Tagore

　　IWe stand before this great world. The truth of our life depends upon our attitude of mind towards it--an attitude which is formed by our habit of dealing with it according to the special circumstance of our surroundings and our temperaments. It guides our attempts to establish relations with the universe either by conquest or by union, either through the cultivation of power or through that of sympathy. And thus, in our realisation of the truth of existence, we put our emphasis either upon the principle of dualism or upon the principle of unity.

　　The Indian sages have held in the Upanishads that the emancipation of our soul lies in its realising the ultimate truth of unity. They said:

　　    Ishávásyam idam sarvam yat kinch jagatyám jagat.

　　    Yéna tyakténa bhunjithá má graha kasyasvit dhanam.

　　     (Know all that moves in this moving world as enveloped by

　　     God; and find enjoyment through renunciation, not through

　　     greed of possession.)