THE TRUE POSITION OF SELF

Mr. Rabindranath Tagore, the foremost poet-philosopher of India at the present time, delivered a lecture on "The Problem of Self," in Emerson D yesterday afternoon. Mr. Tagore stated the problem succinctly as follows: What is the true position of Self in the universe, and what is its object?

In solving the problem, Mr. Tagore first established the assumption of the actuality of self and that the fundamental property of self is its individuality. Not the annihilation of self but the separation of it from the tyranny of the sensual desires is the supreme goal of the philosophy of India. Selfish pleasures are in truth self-destructible. Ignorance is the only fetter which binds the self to these pleasures. Therefore, sinfulness is not contained in the original nature of man to be destroyed by God alone, but may be wiped out by the destruction of ignorance.

The self which reveals itself and is not contained within fulfills its purpose. The perfect revelation of self is love. Love in the gladsome giving of self; it is our freedom. But love must involve action in order to bear true freedom. The mother's love for her children is an active love. God created the earth through love; and not through necessity. The latter destroys, the former causes immortality. Thus, since self is a manifestation of love, it also is immortal. It appears to end with death, but in reality it is eternal.

Self has three purposes,--the physical or inward health, the social or goodness, and the universal or love. The true course of self-will is to effect a harmony of these purposes. "Self finds its end," concluded Mr. Tagore, "in the repose of beauty, the action of goodness, and the union of love."