| Before considering further how devotion to duty | | | | words themselves are symbols of thought. In |
| helps us in our spiritual progress, let me place | | | | another sense everything in the universe may be |
| before you in a brief compass another aspect of | | | | looked upon as a symbol. The whole universe is a |
| what we in India mean by Karma. In every | | | | symbol, and God is the essence behind. This kind |
| religion there are three parts: philosophy, | | | | of symbology is not simply the creation of man; it |
| mythology, and ritual. Philosophy of course is the | | | | is not that certain people belonging to a religion sit |
| essence of every religion; mythology explains and | | | | down together and think out certain symbols, and |
| illustrates it by means of the more or less | | | | bring them into existence out of their own minds. |
| legendary lives of great men, stories and fables | | | | The symbols of religion have a natural growth. |
| of wonderful things, and so on; ritual gives to that | | | | Otherwise,why is it that certain symbols are |
| philosophy a still more concrete form, so that | | | | associated with certain ideas in the mind of almost |
| every one may grasp it -- ritual is in fact | | | | every one? Certain symbols are universally |
| concretised philosophy. This ritual is Karma; it is | | | | prevalent. Many of you may think that the cross |
| necessary in every religion, because most of us | | | | first came into existence as a symbol in |
| cannot understand abstract spiritual things until we | | | | connection with the Christian religion,but as a |
| grow much spiritually. | | | | matter of fact it existed before Christianity was, |
| It is easy for men to think that they can | | | | before Moses was born, before the Vedas were |
| understand anything; but when it comes to | | | | given out, before there was any human record of |
| practical experience, they find that abstract ideas | | | | human things. The cross may be found to have |
| are often very hard to comprehend. Therefore | | | | been in existence among the Aztecs and the |
| symbols are of great help, and we cannot | | | | Phoenicians; every race seems to have had the |
| dispense with the symbolical method of putting | | | | cross. Again, the symbol of the crucified Savior, |
| things before us. From time immemmorial | | | | of a man crucified upon a cross, appears to have |
| symbols have been used by all kinds of religions. | | | | been known to almost every nation. The circle |
| In one sense we cannot think but in symbols; | | | | has been a great symbol throughout the world. |